Institutionalized discrimination
Encyclopedia
Institutionalized discrimination refers to the unfair, indirect treatment of an individual embedded in the operating procedures, policies, laws, or objectives of large organizations such as the governments and corporations, financial institutions (banks, investment firms, money markets), public institutions (schools, police forces, healthcare centers), and other larger entities.
Usually the bias targets specific, facile attributes including race, gender
, nationality
, sexual orientation
, and age
. Though direct discrimination
is legally iniquitous by United States law, many people believe that it exists in some of the social institutions and practices carried out every day. Because of institutionalized discrimination, meritocracy
cannot be realized.
decision. Institutionalized discrimination often exists within the government, though it can also occur in any other type of social institution including religion, education and marriage. Achievement gap
s in education per se are an example of institutionalized discrimination. Two recent studies aimed to explain the complications of assessing educational progress within the United States. While one study focused on high school graduation rates, the other compared dropout rates in suburban and urban
schools. By taking a closer look at statistics of test scores and academic achievement, it can be noticed that wealthy whites do better than blacks, poor whites and Latinos. According to Star Parker, reporter of the Durham Herald Sun, graduation rates among whites and Asians are about 25 percent higher than those of minority groups (blacks, Hispanics, American Indians). This signifies that academic achievement is linked to socioeconomic status.
have institutionalized discrimination where women and other oppressed people cannot participate in some religious activities and the government. In the UK, a member of a trade union
making a complaint of workplace harassment
against a fellow employee and member of the same union is not entitled to union advice and assistance, irrespective of the merit of the case, because the employee complained against could lose his/her job. In the Weaver v NATFHE (now part of UCU) race discrimination case, the Tribunal decided that the union's principal obligation in race harassment
cases is to protect the tenure of the accused employee. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision and extended the decision to cover complaints of sexist harassment. Also known as the Bournville
College Racial Harassment Issue.
such as religion
, education
and marriage
among many other. Routines that encourage the selection over one individual over another such as hiring only people you know for a job or making selections based on seniority are both examples of institutionalized discrimination. This phenomenon occurs unintentionally at times. In the article “Discrimination and Affirmative Action”, Dr. Jan Garrett gives the example of a boss who requests his employees to recommend any individuals who are qualified for a job in the corporation
. The employees will probably automatically think of someone close to them, often of the same race and ethnic group and gender. A hiring decision such as this has the potential to perpetuate racial and gender inequality
in the workplace. Because the employees and the employer probably do not even consider race or gender being an issue in hiring, their discrimination is unintentional.
Thomas Shapiro
’s The Hidden Cost of Being African American addresses many of the problems faced by African Americans in the United States and how their current social and economic situations compare to one another. These issues include the racial wealth gap between blacks and whites, assets and education
. One chapter spends a significant amount of discussion focusing on why people choose to live where they live. Sociologist James Jasper argues Americans tend to identify with those about is in status because that is how we want to see ourselves, and that moving to a different, better neighborhood is linked to status. Where one lives also depends where their children attend school. About 50 percent of educational funding comes from property taxes. Problems arise when individuals are not able to achieve the “American Dream
” because they run into institutional barriers in which they cannot control.
A major barrier in social equality
for the United States is residential segregation
. Housing in the United States is valued differently based on the racial makeup of the neighborhood. There can be two identical houses in terms of amenities and size but the value of each house depends on the racial makeup of the people within the community
. Once about 20 percent of the homeowners in a neighborhood are black, in two years, the entire neighborhoods will be black. This phenomenon occurs because of tactics like blockbusting
, a method where real estate
agents survey white homeowners in an area. After persuading them that the neighborhood is about to be infiltrated by a minority community the homeowners will leave the area. This is called white flight
. Institutionalized discrimination exist within the actual housing system including redlining
and mortgage discrimination
.
s are taking matters into their own hands to address the issue of institutionalized discrimination. The Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities has developed a plan to fight institutionalized discrimination in the Mebane, North Carolina
area, and included minorities in local planning that have historically been excluded rendering them insufficient police
and fire protection
. Their land values are lower than others leading to zoning
for schools and other related issues. Since community boundaries are not visible, a mapping process from the Geographical Information System (GIS) divides it. It combines several types of information into a single picture. The base map is physical features (roads, city limits, county boundaries) onto which other variables (e.g. race, income, water service, etc.). If needed, the processing system can also show other types of economic variables to draw conclusions about the area. Once the individuals begin to understand this information and realize what is happening to them, they have the power to hold the government accountable and can fight back against the institutionalized discrimination.
Usually the bias targets specific, facile attributes including race, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
, sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
, and age
Ageing
Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
. Though direct discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
is legally iniquitous by United States law, many people believe that it exists in some of the social institutions and practices carried out every day. Because of institutionalized discrimination, meritocracy
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...
cannot be realized.
Examples
Examples of institutionalized discrimination include laws and decisions that reflect racism, such as the Plessy vs. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court case, which ruled in favor of separate but equal public facilities between African Americans and non-African Americans. This ruling was struck down by the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision. Institutionalized discrimination often exists within the government, though it can also occur in any other type of social institution including religion, education and marriage. Achievement gap
Achievement gap
Achievement gap refers to the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized...
s in education per se are an example of institutionalized discrimination. Two recent studies aimed to explain the complications of assessing educational progress within the United States. While one study focused on high school graduation rates, the other compared dropout rates in suburban and urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
schools. By taking a closer look at statistics of test scores and academic achievement, it can be noticed that wealthy whites do better than blacks, poor whites and Latinos. According to Star Parker, reporter of the Durham Herald Sun, graduation rates among whites and Asians are about 25 percent higher than those of minority groups (blacks, Hispanics, American Indians). This signifies that academic achievement is linked to socioeconomic status.
International examples
The United States is in no way the only country in which institutionalized discrimination takes place. Other countries like Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
have institutionalized discrimination where women and other oppressed people cannot participate in some religious activities and the government. In the UK, a member of a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
making a complaint of workplace harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
against a fellow employee and member of the same union is not entitled to union advice and assistance, irrespective of the merit of the case, because the employee complained against could lose his/her job. In the Weaver v NATFHE (now part of UCU) race discrimination case, the Tribunal decided that the union's principal obligation in race harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
cases is to protect the tenure of the accused employee. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision and extended the decision to cover complaints of sexist harassment. Also known as the Bournville
Bournville
Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham, England, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate – including a dark chocolate bar branded "Bournville". It is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre...
College Racial Harassment Issue.
Spillover Effects
Institutionalized discrimination also exists in institutions aside from the governmentGovernment
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
such as religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
among many other. Routines that encourage the selection over one individual over another such as hiring only people you know for a job or making selections based on seniority are both examples of institutionalized discrimination. This phenomenon occurs unintentionally at times. In the article “Discrimination and Affirmative Action”, Dr. Jan Garrett gives the example of a boss who requests his employees to recommend any individuals who are qualified for a job in the corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
. The employees will probably automatically think of someone close to them, often of the same race and ethnic group and gender. A hiring decision such as this has the potential to perpetuate racial and gender inequality
Gender inequality
Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
in the workplace. Because the employees and the employer probably do not even consider race or gender being an issue in hiring, their discrimination is unintentional.
Thomas Shapiro
Thomas Shapiro
Thomas M. Shapiro is a professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Brandeis University and is the author The Hidden Cost of Being African American and the co-author of Black Wealth/White Wealth. Shapiro's current professional titles include the Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy and the...
’s The Hidden Cost of Being African American addresses many of the problems faced by African Americans in the United States and how their current social and economic situations compare to one another. These issues include the racial wealth gap between blacks and whites, assets and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. One chapter spends a significant amount of discussion focusing on why people choose to live where they live. Sociologist James Jasper argues Americans tend to identify with those about is in status because that is how we want to see ourselves, and that moving to a different, better neighborhood is linked to status. Where one lives also depends where their children attend school. About 50 percent of educational funding comes from property taxes. Problems arise when individuals are not able to achieve the “American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
” because they run into institutional barriers in which they cannot control.
A major barrier in social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
for the United States is residential segregation
Residential Segregation
Residential segregation is the physical separation of cultural groups based on residence and housing, or a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level."...
. Housing in the United States is valued differently based on the racial makeup of the neighborhood. There can be two identical houses in terms of amenities and size but the value of each house depends on the racial makeup of the people within the community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
. Once about 20 percent of the homeowners in a neighborhood are black, in two years, the entire neighborhoods will be black. This phenomenon occurs because of tactics like blockbusting
Blockbusting
Blockbusting is a business practice of U.S. real estate agents and building developers meant to encourage white property owners to sell their houses at a loss, by implying that racial, ethnic, or religious minorities — Blacks, Hispanics, Jews et al. — were moving into their previously racially...
, a method where real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
agents survey white homeowners in an area. After persuading them that the neighborhood is about to be infiltrated by a minority community the homeowners will leave the area. This is called white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
. Institutionalized discrimination exist within the actual housing system including redlining
Redlining
Redlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a...
and mortgage discrimination
Mortgage discrimination
Mortgage discrimination or mortgage lending discrimination is the practice of banks, governments or other lending institutions denying loans to one or more groups of people primarily on the basis of race, ethnic origin, sex or religion...
.
Solutions
Some cities and townTown
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
s are taking matters into their own hands to address the issue of institutionalized discrimination. The Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities has developed a plan to fight institutionalized discrimination in the Mebane, North Carolina
Mebane, North Carolina
Mebane is a city located mostly in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States, with a part of it in Orange County, North Carolina. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The current population estimate is 10,624. According to the , the town was named for...
area, and included minorities in local planning that have historically been excluded rendering them insufficient police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and fire protection
Fire protection
Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of...
. Their land values are lower than others leading to zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
for schools and other related issues. Since community boundaries are not visible, a mapping process from the Geographical Information System (GIS) divides it. It combines several types of information into a single picture. The base map is physical features (roads, city limits, county boundaries) onto which other variables (e.g. race, income, water service, etc.). If needed, the processing system can also show other types of economic variables to draw conclusions about the area. Once the individuals begin to understand this information and realize what is happening to them, they have the power to hold the government accountable and can fight back against the institutionalized discrimination.
See also
- DiscriminationDiscriminationDiscrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
- RacismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
- SexismSexismSexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
- HarassmentHarassmentHarassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
- Achievement gapAchievement gapAchievement gap refers to the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized...
- Residential segregationResidential SegregationResidential segregation is the physical separation of cultural groups based on residence and housing, or a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level."...
- ZoningZoningZoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
- Affirmative ActionAffirmative actionAffirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...