Systemic racism is real and all around us
Systemic racism is a system in which institutional practices, public policies, cultural representations and other norms perpetuate racial group inequities. Part of what maintains systemic racism are the implicit biases that most, if not all, of us have. We are unaware that we have these biases, but they can be expressed in our behaviors; behaviors that contribute to systemic racism. It is different from individual racism in which an individual consciously and intentionally engages in prejudicial or discriminatory behavior. An implicit bias is unconscious and nonintentional, but it has effects. Here are some of them.
After President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, the Republicans had Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., deliver their response. I find it ironic that they chose their token Black to deliver remarks which included much about racism including his statement that “America is not a racist country.” All he must do is look at his Republican caucus in the Senate and see only white faces looking back to realize the impact of systemic racism; but he appears not to.
It is even stranger that he gave examples from his own life that are indicative of systemic racism such as “I know what it feels like to be pulled over for no reason, to be followed around a store while I’m shopping” but he still claimed systemic racism doesn’t exist. Is he really that naïve? What does it take for people, even Black people like him, to realize the insidious nature of systemic racism?
Let’s start with one of Sen. Scott’s personal examples, being “pulled over for no reason.” Researchers at Stanford University conducted a comprehensive study of nearly 100 million police stops made by state and municipal police. The study discovered that blacks are about 35-38% more likely to be pulled over by police officers than white drivers. Also, Blacks were searched about twice as often as white drivers. As Kelsey Shoub, Ph.D., co-author of "Suspect Citizens" (2018) says, “‘Driving while Black' is very much a thing. It appears to be more systemic than a few 'bad apple' officers engaged in racial profiling.”
Where else do we find systemic racism? Let’s have a look. School suspensions are used as a disciplinary method; but suspensions decrease students’ academic achievement on both math and English language arts standardized tests. Yet, a 2019 study from Brown University found that Black students get suspended at a higher rate than white students for the same misbehaviors.
A 2003 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that job applicants with white sounding names (Emily Walsh or Greg Baker) had a 50% greater callback rate than applicants with Black sounding names (Lakisha Washington or Jamal Jones). Yet they all had equally strong resumes. In the sciences, Black applicants are 13% less likely to receive National Institutes of Health investigator-initiated research funding compared with whites.
In housing, Black homebuyers are more likely to be denied an appointment with a real estate agent and Black homebuyers are shown 17% fewer homes than white buyers. Housing lenders have disproportionately steered prime loan qualified Black Americans to subprime housing loans.
In the criminal justice system, Blacks receive sentences that are almost 10% longer than those of comparable whites arrested for the same crimes. Black children are 18 times more likely to be sentenced as adults. Despite virtually equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana usage. Blacks pay higher bail than whites convicted of the same crime. No wonder Blacks fear the police.
In their day-to-day lives when people with Black sounding names try to book an AirBnB they are 16% less likely to be approved. They are also three times more likely to have their Uber rides canceled. And, if you are Black, people are less likely to stop for you at a crosswalk.