When white terrorists bomb a black church and kill five black children, that is an act of individual racism, widely deplored by most segments of the society. But when in that same city—Birmingham, Alabama—five hundred black babies die each year because of the lack of proper food, shelter and medical facilities, and thousands more are destroyed and maimed physically, emotionally and intellectually because of conditions of poverty and discrimination in the black community, that is a function of institutional racism. ~ Kwame Ture and Charles V. Hamilton

Institutional racism (also known as systemic racism) is a form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions.

Quotes

  • Merely asking for evidence or reasoned arguments to support the assertion of “systemic racism,” however, is typically met with dismissive scoffing – no supporting evidence is needed. If you don’t see it, you must be racist.
    • Brian Balfour, "Exposing the Faulty Narrative Upon Which Critical Race Theory is Built"
  • Critical Race Theory is the “study” of this so-called systemic racism, if by “study” we mean “treasure hunt to find racism in everything.”
    • James Lindsay, "On the Absence of Systemic Racism"
  • The point is to show the public that, like so much else in their repressive order, the label “systemic racism” is just another arbitrary tool, another potent bit of calculated rhetorical malice, by which they might effect their intended ends.
    • James Lindsay, "On the Absence of Systemic Racism"
  • Critical Race Theory is the tip of a 100-year-long spear to push Neo-Marxist ideology into America and the rest of Western Civilization, and "systemic racism" is the lie that makes it sharp.
    • James Lindsay, on X
  • As Brown University economist and social scientist Prof. Glenn Loury wrote, the “invocation of ‘systemic racism’ in political arguments is both a bluff and a bludgeon.” It allows those who use the term to invoke “shadowy structural causes that are never fully specified” and ignores how “disparities have multiple, interacting causes, ranging from culture to politics to economics.”
    • Mark Milke "It’s Time to put the Myth of ‘White Privilege’ to Bed"
  • “[Critical Race Theory proponents] teach that racism defines America and that systemic racism plagues our country’s institutions . . Critical race theorists seek to remedy what they describe as ‘systemic racism’ by turning back the clock on race relations and promoting a race-based view of the world.”
    • Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts from his official website
  • Economist Thomas Sowell expressed the belief that the term “systemic racism” has “no meaning” and that it reminds him of Nazi Germany. “It really has no meaning that can be specified and tested in the way that one tests hypotheses,” he said, adding that the phrase’s currency is reminiscent of Nazi “propaganda tactics” and that people accept the lie after it’s “repeated long enough and loud enough.”
    • Andrew Mark Miller, Washington Examiner, "Thomas Sowell: Idea of 'systemic racism' a lie that has 'no meaning' and is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda" July 13, 2020
  • The assertion that blacks must rely on white people to solve all their problems by somehow ending systemic and institutional racism is both nonsensical and self-defeating. By focusing on the past and present sins of white America as the source of all our problems, we ignore the enemy within, and that which is in our power to change. We turn a blind eye to the destruction within our communities that is consuming more of our lives than the Klan ever did, even at the height of its power.
    • Woodson, Robert L, Sr.  "Media's Racial Narrative Targets Whites, Harms Blacks; An insistence on 'systemic' racism tells minority communities they have no power over their own lives." Wall Street Journal (Online); New York, N.Y.. 16 Apr 2021.
  • Racism is both overt and covert. It takes two, closely related forms: individual whites acting against individual blacks, and acts by the total white community against the black community. We call these individual racism and institutional racism. The first consists of overt acts by individuals, which cause death, injury or the violent destruction of property. This type can be recorded by television cameras; it can frequently be observed in the process of commission. The second type is less overt, far more subtle, less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts. But it is no less destructive of human life. The second type originates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society, and thus receives far less public condemnation than the first type.
  • When white terrorists bomb a black church and kill five black children, that is an act of individual racism, widely deplored by most segments of the society. But when in that same city—Birmingham, Alabama—five hundred black babies die each year because of the lack of proper food, shelter and medical facilities, and thousands more are destroyed and maimed physically, emotionally and intellectually because of conditions of poverty and discrimination in the black community, that is a function of institutional racism.
  • When a black family moves into a home in a white neighborhood and is stoned, burned or routed out, they are victims of an overt act of individual racism which many people will condemn—at least in words. But it is institutional racism that keeps black people locked in dilapidated slum tenements, subject to the daily prey of exploitative slumlords, merchants, loan sharks and discriminatory real estate agents. The society either pretends it does not know of this latter situation, or is in fact incapable of doing anything meaningful about it.

See also

This article is issued from Wikiquote. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.