Structural Racism

Structural Racism is a system that gives white people advantages over Black, Indigenous, and People of Color – like better access to education, wealth and health care.

Structural racism is what happens when society makes it normal for white people to have these advantages. It is the deepest and most common form of racism. All other kinds of racism stem from structural racism.

All other kinds of racism stem from structural racism.

The existence of structural racism leads to deep inequities for Black, Indigenous and people of color in society. These inequities show up in areas like quality education, access to jobs, housing security, health care and treatment in the criminal justice system. All of these areas of society are influenced by structural racism — through policies, practices and norms.

LET’S LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES

One simple measure of our health is how long we live — our life expectancy. When you look at differences in life expectancy across racial and ethnic identities, we find that white men live longer than Black and Indigenous men. Without learning more about this disparity, some may think there is a biological reason for these outcomes. But the truth is, there is no biological predisposition to life expectancy. Instead, its things like stable housing, access to health care and stress that influence how long we live. And as Black and Indigenous men experience less stable housing, poorer access to health care and stress due to enduring racism that is embedded in the system that impacts these things, their life expectancy is shorter. This is structural racism at work.

For instance, a 2012 study from Princeton University shows that “80% of the life expectancy gap between Black and White men could be attributed to factors [like] education, occupation, unemployment, marital status, and home ownership.”

Another example of structural racism is called redlining. Redlining is a practice that was used by financial systems and the real estate industry in which neighborhoods that were primarily home to Black, Indigenous, and people of Color – would literally be outlined in red ink. This practice indicated geographic areas that were considered to be “hazardous” investments by these industries. This resulted in ongoing divestment in these areas and people living within them were denied financial resources.

Redlining went on for decades, and while the practice was banned in 1968 through the Fair Housing Act, the impact of it continues to ripple through and is visible to this day. A 2018 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that “racial discrimination in mortgage lending in the 1930s shaped the demographic and wealth patterns of American communities today, with three out of four neighborhoods ‘redlined’ on government maps 80 years ago continuing to struggle economically.”

This has long-lasting impacts on communities of Color and their opportunities to accumulate wealth. According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve, “white families [have] a median net worth of $171,000, compared with $17,600 for Black and $20,700 for Latinx.”

Structural racism is complicated. When thinking about racism, it can often be simpler to focus on instances of interpersonal racism, since pinpointing those interactions is usually pretty obvious. If someone uses a racial slur, that is racist. If someone refuses to interact with a person based on their race, that is racist. However, the damage structural racism can do is often even more destructive. While identifying instances of structural racism can be more nuanced, it’s critical for us all to reflect on what structural racism is, how it impacts society and how we must work to address it.