Structural Racism
Structural racism is “a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time.” (Source: The Aspen Institute)
From the racial wealth gap to environmental disparities, there is a wide range of areas where structural racism affects African Americans. We’ll break down some of them in this article, but first let’s look at where it started: the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era.
The aftermath of the Civil War was bewildering, exhilarating…and terrifying. African Americans had played a crucial role in saving the Union and now, as the country grappled with the terms and implications of Reconstruction, they struggled to breathe life into their hard-won freedom. The result was a second American Revolution.
Watch the rest of this documentary here:
Reconstruction: America after the Civil War Part 2
Reconstruction: America after the Civil War Part 3
Wealth
The racial wealth gap in America has persisted for generations. The median African American household holds just ten percent of the wealth of median white household. While African Americans make up 13% of America’s population, they hold less than 3% of its wealth, according to the Samuel DuCois Cook Center on Racial Equality at Duke University.
Read
Combating the racial wealth gap: 7 money moves for individuals of color - Sarah Foster, Bankrate
Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America - Urban Institute
What Is Behind the Persistence of the Racial Wealth Gap? - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
What We Got Wrong about Closing the Racial Wealth Gap - The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Racial Equality
A Conversation about the Racial Wealth Gap - and How to Address it - Brookings
The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 - Tim Madigan
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Cory Booker and others discuss how slavery, housing discrimination and centuries of inequality have compounded to create a racial wealth gap.
Governance Studies at Brookings cohosted an event with Contexts Magazine, featuring an expert panel that discussed the causes, consequences, and policy solutions to the racial wealth gap.
Employment
Bias, both conscious and unconscious, plagues the American workplace and diversity programs, historically, have not been very successful. Racism in hiring and the workplace is closely tied to the wealth gap as well. The following readings provide a comprehensive understanding of structural racism in employment.
Read
My Father, Martin Luther King Jr., Had Another Dream - Martin Luther King III, NY Times
How to Promote Racial Equity in the Workplace - Robert Livingston, Harvard Business Review
The Psychic Stress of Being the Only Black Woman at Work - Maura Cheeks
Being Black—but Not Too Black—in the Workplace - Adia Harvey Wingfield, The Atlantic
How To Identify And Mitigate Unconscious Bias In The Workplace - Eric Mosley, Forbes
The Impact of Structural Racism in Employment and Wages on Minority Women’s Health - Ruqaiijah Yearby, American Bar Association
Research finds entrenched hiring bias against African-Americans - Hilary Hurd Anyaso, Northwestern
Social Class in the Workplace: Exploring Multilevel Code-switching - Sheila Garcia, University of Michigan
Watch/Listen
This video is a part of a series produced by Race Forward to highlight the impact of systemic racism on our everyday lives. And yeah, its really a thing.
Housing
The segregation that continues in cities across the country is no accident. In the early 1930s, the federal government established several policies that ensured African Americans would not have access to new suburban housing in the midst of a housing shortage. NPR explains:
…the Federal Housing Administration, which was established in 1934, furthered the segregation efforts by refusing to insure mortgages in and near African-American neighborhoods — a policy known as "redlining." At the same time, the FHA was subsidizing builders who were mass-producing entire subdivisions for whites — with the requirement that none of the homes be sold to African-Americans.
Read More: A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America
Read
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
With covenants, racism was written into Minneapolis housing. The scars are still visible. - MinnPost
Interactive Map: Redlining in New Deal America - University of Richmond
In U.S. Cities, The Health Effects Of Past Housing Discrimination Are Plain To See - Maria Godoy, NPR
Biden Seeks to Use Infrastructure Plan to Address Racial Inequities - Jim Tankersley and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, The New York Times
Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America - Cameron McWhirter
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Isabel Wilkerson
Watch/Listen
Jim Crow of the North - PBS Twin Cities
Almost every quantifiable indicator of white supremacy- all lead back to the government-sanctioned policy of redlining.
Health Care
In an article for the Harvard Health Blog, Dr. Monique Tello writes,
It is well-established that blacks and other minority groups in the U.S. experience more illness, worse outcomes, and premature death compared with whites. These health disparities were first “officially” noted back in the 1980s, and though a concerted effort by government agencies resulted in some improvement, the most recent report shows ongoing differences by race and ethnicity for all measures.
Read More: Racism and discrimination in health care: Providers and patients
In addition, stigma and lack of resources significantly impacts African Americans’ access to mental health treatment.
Read
Race and ethnicity: How it affects your risk of Cancer - Anna Cheng, HealthMatch
A brief history of racism in healthcare - Harry Kretchmer, World Economic Forum
Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans - Jamila Taylor, The Century Foundation
Stigma Regarding Mental Illness among People of Color - Victor Armstrong, MSW, National Council for Behavioral Health
The Emotional Toll of Racism - Greta Anderson, Inside Higher Ed.
Watch/Listen
David R. Williams, Professor of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been researching health inequities in the United States for two decades. In this video, he sits down with Don Berwick, MD, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow at IHI, to talk about the effect of racism — both conscious and unconscious — on quality of care for people of color.
Environmental
The World Economic Forum explains environmental racism as,
…a form of systemic racism whereby communities of colour are disproportionately burdened with health hazards through policies and practices that force them to live in proximity to sources of toxic waste such as sewage works, mines, landfills, power stations, major roads and emitters of airborne particulate matter. As a result, these communities suffer greater rates of health problems attendant on hazardous pollutants.
Read
Trump's EPA Concludes Environmental Racism Is Real - Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic
Flint Water Crisis Fast Facts - CNN
How environmental racism is fueling the coronavirus pandemic - Harriet A. Washington, Nature
Watch/Listen