Systemic racism can be difficult to see because it's not

Posted on: July 31, 2025 at 14:14:45 CT

a person-to-person act of hatred; it's the result of policies and practices that, while often appearing race-neutral on the surface, have disproportionate impacts on different racial groups. The key to understanding this is to think of it as a set of rules and conditions, rather than a matter of individual bigotry.

Here's how systemic racism can exist and go unnoticed by many:

1. Historical racism
Many of today's racial disparities are a direct result of historical policies that were explicitly racist. These policies, though now illegal, created a foundation of inequality that persists.

Redlining and Housing: In the 20th century, government and banking policies officially designated neighborhoods with high minority populations as "hazardous" for investment. This practice, known as redlining, made it nearly impossible for Black families to get mortgages in those areas, which prevented them from building wealth through homeownership. This created a racial wealth gap that has been passed down through generations. Today, you can drive through a city and see the lasting effects of redlining in the form of segregated neighborhoods with vastly different levels of resources, even if no one is explicitly discriminating. The system itself is still operating on a foundation of historical inequality.

Unequal School Funding: A significant portion of public school funding comes from local property taxes. Because redlining and other discriminatory housing policies concentrated wealth in predominantly white neighborhoods, schools in those areas have historically had and often still have more funding. This means that a child's access to resources and a high-quality education is often determined by the racial makeup of their neighborhood, a system that perpetuates disparities in educational opportunity without any single person acting with racist intent.

2. Implicit Bias
Implicit or unconscious bias refers to the stereotypes or attitudes that people hold without even realizing it. These biases are formed from a lifetime of exposure to cultural messages and stereotypes.

Hiring and Employment: A hiring manager might not be a racist, but studies have shown that résumés with "white-sounding" names receive significantly more callbacks than identical résumés with "black-sounding" names. This isn't a conscious decision to discriminate, but the result of an implicit bias that subtly influences decision-making. The person making the choice may genuinely believe they are being fair, but the system of hiring, influenced by these biases, has a disproportionate impact on job seekers.

Criminal Justice: A police officer may not be a racist, but they may have an implicit bias that leads them to be more vigilant in certain neighborhoods or perceive a young Black man as more of a threat than a young white man in the same situation. This can lead to a higher rate of stops and arrests, which in turn feeds the perception that crime is higher in minority communities, creating a feedback loop.

3. But I’m "Colorblind" Mindset
For many people, not seeing race is seen as the ideal way to be fair. However, this "colorblind" approach can inadvertently maintain systemic racism.

By ignoring race, we also ignore the unique disadvantages that people of color face due to the systems of inequality. If you don't acknowledge that some people have an unfair starting point, you can't address the unfairness of the conditions.

This mindset can lead people to dismiss conversations about race as unnecessary, making it harder to identify and change the policies and practices that are still creating disproportionate impacts.

systemic racism is often invisible because it's baked into the very fabric of our society. It's not about individual acts of malice, but rather the collective, and often unintended, consequences of historical injustices and ingrained biases that operate within our institutions.

Edited by TigerMatt at 14:16:29 on 07/31/25