Day 11 Theme: Structural Racism

The cumulative impacts of racism across time, institutions and policy areas form systemic or structural racism. The short video below, the Unequal Opportunity Race, provides an overview of how multiple vectors of racism converge to form a pipeline to well-being for Whites and a comprehensive barrier for people of color.

As Fay Givens, Executive Director of American Indian Services, explains, “The number one source of discrimination for American Indians is the State and Federal government. We know what our problems are, but we are never provided the resources we need to solve them. We have had over the years thousands of conversations, conferences, meetings, etc. related to disparities in health and education but there is no will to make things better in spite of their talk.” Read this statement by National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel on a recent report detailing the federal government’s continuing failure to uphold its numerous obligations under treaties with Indian nations.

For other examples of structural racism at work, see the Jamila Michener Vox article below about Medicaid work requirements, and the short video linked below about the American justice system, narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates. What distinct threads do you see knitted together to create an all-encompassing system of racism?

Through its Prison Gerrymandering Project, the Prison Policy Initiative shows us how the mass incarceration resulting from structural racism is used to distort political representation and sustain the racial power imbalance. WA state just recently acted to end this practice (see below)

Reflect & Respond:

Thinking about the particular ways in which your work, studies and volunteerism focus on combating racism, are there opportunities for partnerships with others whose work may be targeted at different policy areas or mechanisms of racial injustice? Is your work connected to the work of others in ways that might not be obvious? What might these partnerships look like and what steps can you take to engage unusual allies?