
…cuss. But conversations “about race” based entirely on racial ignorance are actually quite harmful. As an antiracist educator, an occasional coffee drinker, and a black woman, I for one do not want to hear random members of the public who have not studied race share their uninformed opinions with or around me in the early morning hours. The unfortunate truth is that the vast majority of U.S. citizens have never taken a class on the …
…alizes stereotypes about social groups, we do not all occupy the same position in the racial order. When members of a so-called racial group are able to impose their prejudices in ways that reliably benefit them and disadvantage others, they have managed to successfully institutionalize their racist beliefs and protect their racial privileges. “Institutional racism” consists of racist ideas and practices embedded within social organizations and institutions (for example, policies, laws, families, education). The major insight about systemic and institutional racism is that there is no such thing as “a little bit of racism” or “pockets of racism” or “random incidents of racism” isolated from the rest of society. Whether you realize it or not, racism is systemic, pervasive, and embedded within the core of all of our major institutions. The consequences of systemic racism are vast — from the burgeoning racial wealth gap, political dis…