What is Systemic Racism?
Mayowa, I have some bad news……
It was the day of my mother’s 50th birthday party. A lot of my relatives and family friends flew in from all across the globe. I remember being so happy that day. I was ready to see my cousins from New York, my family from London, and my uncle from Nigeria that had been living in Pittsburgh. When the party finally started, my brother, sister, father, mother, and I danced our way up to the front of the hall in our matching native outfits. Everyone was having a great time, we were all smiling, and money was being thrown around, which is business as usual at a Nigerian event. When we sat down at the table, that was prepared for us at the front, I started to see my mother’s smile slip away. I asked her what was wrong, but she said she was fine. I knew she was lying.
Eventually, I was pulled to the back by my father who noticed something was wrong. He said, “Mayowa, I have some bad news.” “Your uncle was killed.” “He was shot in Pittsburgh the other day by a few kids.” As soon as I heard those words, I immediately broke down in tears. I felt an enormous pain in my heart and thought it would never be healed. Eventually, I was able to get up and with the support of my friends and family, I was able to find a way to smile and enjoy the rest of the night. That didn’t stop me from crying the next morning when I woke up.
What does this have to do with systemic racism? Well, I believe that it has everything to do with systemic racism. Opportunity. It all comes down to opportunity and systemic racism limits opportunity and creates toxic environments. Systemic racism, sometimes referred to as institutional racism, is defined as the differential access to the goods, services, and opportunities of society by race. It is normative, sometimes legalized, and often manifests as inherited disadvantage. It is structural, having been codified in our institutions of custom, practice, and law, so there need not be an identifiable perpetrator. When I think about what happened to my uncle, and the young men that took him away from me, I think about this definition, and how systems limited these men’s opportunities to the point that they believed that the only path for them was to hurt others.
Pittsburgh is one of the most segregated metropolitan areas in the United States mostly due to redlining practices and policies in the 1930’s. The neighborhoods in Pittsburgh that today have the largest Black populations, are the same neighborhoods that were outlined in red or yellow 80 years ago, designating them as low quality and poor value. This has resulted in the concentration of poverty, poor public schools (dependent on funding from the local tax base), and a small Black middle class. Black families in Pittsburgh earn 51 percent of what their White counterparts in the city earn. Nationally, Black families earn a median of 60% what White people earn. According to one study, white families in the United States hold 90% of the national wealth, Latinx families hold 2.3%, and Black families hold 2.6%. In Pittsburgh Public Schools, Black children miss more days of school due to suspensions than their White peers which can lead to differential education outcomes. Communities with high crime rates — particularly violent crime — tend to struggle with unemployment, disinvestment, and lower property values.
When examining mental health outcomes nationally, evidence suggests that Black young adults (ages 18–25) experience higher rates of mental health problems and lower rates of mental health service utilization compared to White young adults, and older Black adults. Although the Black community roughly makes up 12% of the United States population, they are overrepresented in high-risk populations; the Black community comprises approximately 40% of the homeless population, 50% of the prison population, and 45% of children in the foster care system. The Black community is at significantly increased risk of developing a mental health issue due to historical, economic, social, political influences that systemically expose the Black community to factors known to be damaging to psychological and physical health.
These forms of systemic racism as well as others not mentioned, all translate to less opportunity. Poverty is often associated with violence, and violence in one’s community leads to trauma and vice versa. Even though I do not personally know the young men that killed my uncle, I know that these systems of oppression translate to less opportunity for them. I don’t think people wake up one day and say, “I want to be a murderer.” I also know that people of color are not inherently violent by any means. I think that these young men’s unique experiences, and systems of oppression that devalue people of color, shaped these decisions and are ultimately to blame.
“Once all the racist old White men die, racism will go away.”
Before closing, I want to break down the definition of systemic racism further. It is important to realize that this form of racism is codified in institutions and systems. This means that regardless of the people running the institution or system, whether they are racist or not, racism exists. I have often heard people say things like, “Once Trump leaves office we’ll be ok” or, “ Once all the old racist White men die, racism will go away.” THIS IS NOT TRUE. I repeat, THIS IS NOT TRUE and at best is a delusional fantasy. If institutions, structures, and systems themselves are codified with racism, believing that things will be fixed when racist individuals are no longer in power is actually detrimental to social justice because it ignores the power of systems. The only way that we can truly come to a place of racial equity is by dismantling and transforming the current systems that oppress people of color. That includes, but is not limited to the criminal justice system, education system, and economic system. It will take advocacy, antiracist policy, and the advancement of people of color with a passion for social justice in positions of decision-making power to make this a realization. We need people of color in positions of power because only we truly know the struggles of our people. Even the most well-intentioned White person cannot truly grasp the struggle of people of color in this country — look at Bill Clinton, “the first Black president” and democratic nominee Joe Biden aka “Uncle Joe”, and how they have contributed to mass incarceration and the privatization of the prison industry.
I never spoke to the young men that killed my uncle, but I plan on it. I’m sure what I will find is trauma at the core of their decision making — which is not uncommon for a lot of people who commit violent crimes — a description of how the systems and institutions that were meant to uplift them, brought them down, and internalized racism. I believe that if people are able to see past individuals, and closely examine the systems that shape their decisions, we will be able to get further in the fight against racism and oppression. We often hear phrases like “Black on Black crime” thrown around, but recognize this; Black culture or Black people aren’t the problem, systemic racism and racist policy is.
