I saw [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/FragileWhiteRedditor/comments/kyo25g/fwr_says_theres_no_such_thing_as_systemic_racism/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) Reddit post today and it sparked a few questions.
For context, I consider my self sort of knowledgeable of social justice issues, but I don’t understand this one that much.
The responding Redditor says that if you remove all the racists from a systemically racist system, the system still favors a certain ethnicity. I am in no way trying to argue this, and I don’t not think it’s true, I just don’t understand what systems are in place that are racist by design. I acknowledge that if it weren’t for my white privilege, I would probably know. I definitely think that the system is racist, but I always thought it was the people applying it unjustly, not the system itself.
Thanks
Edit: I understand this is a pretty common question and I should’ve better explained my question specifically as something like:
“I understand that many modern social systems are based on unjust, racist treatment of certain groups, be it slavery, Residential Schools, or otherwise. I understand that this has lasting impacts on our society, and these policies and practices continue to negatively impact minority communities to this day. It is evident to me that, for only one example, a racist judge, would apply harsher sentencing to a individual, due to their ethnicity.
My question specifically is, like the Redditor stated: How is it that, even once the racist individuals within the system are removed, the system still favors one ethnicity, and oppresses the other?”
Thanks to some very helpful, and precise replies I much better understand systemic racism as a whole, and my question is answered. Thanks to everyone who put in the time to explain.
In: Other
There are plenty of articles out there that explain it better, but I’ll try to summarize.
In the US, racism is so inherent that it is literally built into the very foundations of our society. Hundreds of years of enslaving Black and Indigenous people now means that they are at a severe disadvantage, even if they themselves are no longer enslaved.
Their ancestors were barred from educations, redlined out of neighborhoods, and relegated to low-paying jobs, which means that BIPOC people are way less likely to inherit any generational wealth. Traditionally Black and Indigenous communities are, for the aforementioned reasons, terribly under resourced, which means less access to healthcare and education and more exposure to health risks and poverty. This is only a little taste of the mass racial injustice in the US.
Notice how I didn’t mention anything about individual instances of discrimination. At this point, it’s not necessary for people to discriminate against BIPOC people, because the system discriminates enough already.
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