SYSTEMIC RACISM IN OUR INSTITUTIONS

Racism is often imagined as an individual act. We picture an insult, an offensive statement, a
discriminatory refusal, or an openly prejudiced person. Those behaviours are real and
damaging. But racism can also operate through institutions.
An organization does not need to display a sign saying that certain racial groups are
unwelcome for racial inequality to develop within it. Inequality can become embedded in
traditions, discretionary decisions, organizational cultures, policies, historical arrangements,
and apparently neutral procedures.
This book takes those questions seriously. It does not begin with the assumption that every
unequal outcome is automatically evidence of racism. Differences can have multiple causes
and should be investigated carefully.