Institutional Racism

Institutional racism Name: Institution: Date: Institutional racism relates to discrimination advanced by organizations based on racial, ethnic or national origin. Institutional racism may appear indirectly based on stereotype, but more often than not prejudice targets minority groups. Both private and public institutions may have discriminatory culture, policies, and processes that exclude minorities. Segregation and discriminatory policies in the education and housing sectors lead to lower social status for the minority because discriminatory policies exclude minorities from equal participation in the American mainstream society. The education sector in America is one of the areas through which institutional racism occurs. African American students lag behind other minorities and Whites, but institutional racism is one of the contributing factors. Teachers have low expectations on the intellectual ability of these students, and this further reinforces inadequate training leading to widening inequities in the education sector (McNeil, 2006). The Criminal justice system is also another institution that perpetuates institutional racism against African Americans. The police force is more likely to stop and search African American young men more than any other group. In addition, the police force is regularly accused of using excessive force against African Americans leading to mistrust between the two groups (Healey, 2010). In essence, people may have prejudice, but when practiced in an organization institutional racism disenfranchises the targeted group. Institutional racism occurs because there are participants who do not acknowledge that policies and processes are discriminative. Exclusion and discrimination lead to the provision of inadequate services to...