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The effects of structural and systemic racism on the progress of black people. Bank policies and schooling systems favour the white population. This places white people strategically in a position to succeed at university and obtain favourable, high paying employment. The vicious cycle seems to be perpetual.

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The basics of privilege!

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Students Learn A Powerful Lesson About Privilege

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This post outlines the different types of racism that people are exposed to and are the perpetrators of. It defines each type and gives examples of each. These can be viewed in the linked flashcard on the types of racism.

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Using terms for different types of racism interchangeably can be confusing when teaching students or professionals about racial equity and inclusion.

The key to effective education is not only being accurate, but being human, says Terence Fitzgerald, clinical associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work who specializes in policy, children and families, social inequality and institutional racism.

"We can be high-brow as much as we want, but in these times, it's best to be simplistic and also to speak with empathy and from the heart," Fitzgerald said.

He recommends leading with empathy, accountability and openness when educating others about structural, institutional and systemic racism

Defining Different Types of Racism

People often have difficulty identifying the effects of racism that are not explicitly clear to them or visible in surface-level interactions.

Implicit forms of racism can be difficult to identify because popular cultural narratives about racism frequently focus on individual and interpersonal forms of explicit racism.

When people see coverage of racist acts in the news, "it's easy to point to them as individuals and say: 'These are horrible people. I would never do such a thing,'" Fitzgerald said. But the truth is more complicated.

"To actually be a part of it on another level versus what you see on television, that's hard to fathom for a lot of individuals," he said, "especially [those who consider themselves] socially just."

Taking a hard look at one's own cultural environment - at school, at work, in social settings, at community events, in local policies - can lead to a better understanding of implicit racism and illuminate realistic and accessible ways to create change. But that change can't begin without individual education and personal reckonings.

"When you challenge the system you support or a policy you created that actually feeds into that system of oppression, it makes people call into question who they are," he said. "And it's hard to face that identity.

Racism Terms and Examples

Source: Being Antiracist, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Download flashcards of the definitions and examples above.
"It's not only the systems in existence, but the protection of all of these systems and organizations that we talk about that have a protective measure for those who speak out against them," he said. "That's what a lot of people don't acknowledge."

Before jumping to teach others about racism, Fitzgerald recommends looking inward. Take an inventory of the ways you reacted to each of these definitions, and whether you can identify examples of each in your place of work or community.

He recommends individuals conduct a self assessment with reflective questions by journaling their thoughts in response to the prompts below, or by talking through them with a counselor. Once completing them individually, educators can also use these questions in a classroom setting, or during anti-racism workshops for colleagues or employees in their professional environment.

"Before you can lead, you have to be educated, and it's going to be a long everlasting road of discovery and knowledge. It is a marathon, not a 40-yard dash," Fitzgerald said. "You're always on this journey, you're always learning, and you're [going to have to be] OK with that. You don't know it all, and you're going to need others to guide you."

Approaching with humility is key for people seeking help with understanding racism and its effects on their community. While it's crucial to center the voices and experiences of people of color, white people should think carefully about the ways their requests for explanations from people of color can be burdensome, tiring or even inappropriate.

Before asking someone to educate you, Fitzgerald recommends taking the first step to look for information that is readily available.

"There's so much material, so many documents, so many stories and books. Their voices are already out there," he said. "You can put yourself on a road of self-discovery."

Strategies for Educating Others About Racism

When educating young people, Fitzgerald recommended using examples that relate to their lives. They're just beginning to formulate their own worldviews based on their life experiences, peers' experiences and school curricula, so it's crucial to include examples of historical and current events that illustrate different types of racism.

"Approach from a cultural humility standpoint," Fitzgerald said. "It's about being able to say: 'I'm not an expert, and I have to put aside my initial opinion. I have to be able to hear your story.'"

Talking about racism can be uncomfortable, but Fitzgerald stressed the importance of working through that discomfort instead of letting it fester in the conversations themselves. He offered strategies for how to practice openness:

How to Approach Conversation About Racism:

Be open to hearing about others' experiences and value systems.

Practice cultural humility when engaging with others by listening presently.

Accept that you are not an expert about others' lived experiences, and never can be.

Understand that allyship is a long road of learning, not a competency to achieve.

Look for existing resources for education before asking people of color to explain.

Acknowledge the mental and emotional labor that people of color do to educate you.

"There are times to speak, and times to listen, and you have to be OK with that," Fitzgerald said. "Other's experiences - their pains, their joy, all of those things - deserve our openness and understanding."

With humility must also come accountability; once individuals have learned and understood the definitions and impact of institutional and structural racism, it's up to them to identify opportunities to speak out against these injustices - especially for people who have privilege and power.

On a micro, mezzo and macro level, people in positions of power have opportunities and duties to educate themselves and those around them.

Fitzgerald emphasized the importance of white people taking ownership of speaking out against racism in their school and work environments. "Everything is intensified for people of color speaking out, and that's why we have a lot of people who are afraid to challenge the system," he explained.

He referred to a quote from author and activist Toni Morrison, who said in a 1993 television interview on PBS: "If you can only be tall because somebody is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. And my feeling is: White people have a very, very serious problem, and they should start thinking about what they can do about it. Take me out of it."

While it's paramount for marginalized groups to call attention to injustice, effective change will always require people with power to act.

"They have to lead change," Fitzgerald said. "Not just demonstrate; they have to lead. It has to be that population who is guilty of facilitating this assault, this targeting. It has to be them talking to them."

On a micro, mezzo and macro level, people in positions of power have opportunities and duties to educate themselves and those around them.

"Everyone has a stake in this game, and it is our responsibility to help dismantle it," he added. "But we can't do it when we're silent, or when we are thinking about the next promotion, or when we're thinking about our pocketbooks.

Additional Resources About Institutional, Systemic and Structural Racism

Research Guides: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Background / Best Practices, USC: internal library of resources for understanding racism and opportunities for justice.

What to Read, Listen to and Watch to Learn About Institutional Racism, PBS: list of books, podcasts and films created by people of color that explain the lived experiences and injustices of marginalized communities.

Core Concepts, Racial Equity Tools: library of online tools for understanding terms and frameworks about racism.

Let's Talk! Discussing Race, Racism and Other Difficult Topics with Students (PDF, 1.4 MB), Learning for Justice: guide for educators and other adults in helping professions to assess their own comfort and build capacity for discussing race with young students.

Centering BIPOC Student Voices in Your School District's Equity Work, EdWeek: on-demand webinar featuring student voices and ideas from school districts about affirming and elevating the voices of students of color.

What Is Racial Equity, Race Forward: toolkit for understanding and assessing structural and institutional racism in a professional work environment.

Citation for this content: The MSW@USC, the online Master of Social Work program at the University of Southern California.

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How to Explain Structural, Institutional and Systemic Racism

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Using terms for different types of racism interchangeably can be confusing when teaching students or professionals about racial equity and inclusion. The key to effective education is not only being accurate, but being human, says Terence Fitzgerald, clinical associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work who specializes in policy, children and families, social inequality and institutional racism.

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Institutional Racism vs Structural Racism 

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Institutional Racism vs Structural Racism 

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Dr Sewell, British scholar disputes suggestions that Institutional racism exists in British Society. Instead, he argues that structural racism is a major issue.

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The UK "no longer" has a system rigged against people from ethnic minorities, a review set up by No 10 says.

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities said family structure and social class had a bigger impact than race on how people's lives turned out.

It said children belonging to ethnic minorities did as well or better than white pupils, but overt racism remained, particularly online.

The Runnymede Trust think tank said it felt "let down" by the report.

The commission was set up after Black Lives Matter anti-racism protests across the country last summer - triggered by the killing of George Floyd in the US.

Children from ethnic-minority communities did as well or better than white pupils in compulsory education, with black Caribbean pupils the only group to perform less well

This success in education has "transformed British society over the last 50 years into one offering far greater opportunities for all"

The pay gap between all ethnic minorities and the white majority population had shrunk to 2.3% overall and was barely significant for employees under 30

Diversity has increased in professions such as law and medicine

But some communities continue to be "haunted" by historic racism, which is creating "deep mistrust" and could be a barrier to success

The commission's report concluded that the UK is not yet a "post-racial country" - but its success in removing race-based disparity in education and, to a lesser extent, the economy, "should be regarded as a model for other white-majority countries".

A foreword to the report by chairman Tony Sewell, an education consultant and ex-charity boss, said: "We no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities."

While the "impediments and disparities do exist", it continued, they were "varied and ironically very few of them are directly to do with racism".

The report added that evidence had found that factors such as geography, family influence, socio-economic background, culture and religion had "more significant impact on life chances than the existence of racism".

"That said, we take the reality of racism seriously and we do not deny that it is a real force in the UK."

The report also said there is an "increasingly strident form of anti-racism thinking that seeks to explain all minority disadvantage through the prism of white discrimination" which it said diverted attention from "the other reasons for minority success and failure".

In a statement issued after the report was published, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was "right" that ministers now consider its recommendations in detail and assess "the implications for future government policy".

He added: "The entirety of government remains fully committed to building a fairer Britain and taking the action needed to address disparities wherever they exist."

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Dr Sewell said while there was anecdotal evidence of racism, there was no proof that there was "institutional racism" in Britain.

"No-one denies and no-one is saying racism doesn't exist", he said.

"We found anecdotal evidence of this. However, evidence of actual institutional racism? No, that wasn't there, we didn't find that."

Dr Sewell added that the term "institutional racism" is "sometimes wrongly applied" as a "sort of a catch-all phrase for micro-aggressions or acts of racial abuse".

Prof Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, said the report was not a "genuine effort to understand racism in Britain".

Prof Andrews said: "It's complete nonsense. It goes in the face of all the actual existing evidence. This is not a genuine effort to understand racism in Britain. This is a PR move to pretend the problem doesn't exist."

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "This report rightly identifies the varied causes of disparities and by making recommendations to address them gives the government the opportunity to design policy targeting the sources of inequality.

"There are a number of recommendations we can play a leading role in and we welcome the recognition that additional funding would help us carry out our important work to tackle discrimination and disadvantage."

'Deeply worrying'

Dr Halima Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, said she felt "deeply, massively let down" by the report, and that the government did not have the confidence of black and minority ethnic communities.

Asked for her view on the commission's suggestion that the UK is not institutionally racist, she said: "Tell that to the black young mother who is four times more likely to die in childbirth than her young white neighbour, tell that to the 60% of NHS doctors and nurses who died from Covid and were black and ethnic minority workers.

"You can't tell them that, because they are dead.

"Institutionally, we are still racist, and for a government-appointed commission to look into (institutional) racism, to deny its existence is deeply, deeply worrying."

She added: "We feel that if the best this government can do is come up with a style guide on BAME terminology, or what we should do about unconscious bias training, or extend a few school hours, then I'm afraid this government doesn't carry the confidence of black and ethnic minority communities any longer, certainly not on race."

Dr Begum also claimed the report had failed to acknowledge the "suffering" of black and ethnic minority communities, adding: "All this is is a whitewash and a script that has been written to 10 Downing Street."

She also questioned the suitability of Dr Sewell and head of the Number 10 policy unit Munira Mirza, who had a role in setting the commission up - both of whom have questioned the existence of institutional racism previously.

The 258-page report makes 24 recommendations which include:

Extended school days to be phased in, starting with disadvantaged areas, to help pupils catch up on missed learning during the pandemic

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds should have access to better quality careers advice in schools, funded by university outreach programmes

More research is needed to examine why pupils perform well in certain communities, so this can be replicated to help all children succeed

The acronym BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) should no longer be used because differences between groups are as important as what they have in common

Organisations should stop funding unconscious bias training, with government and experts developing resources to help advance workplace equality

Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the commission had "chosen to deny the experiences of black and minority ethnic workers" who were "far more likely" than white workers to be in "low-paid, insecure jobs".

She added they have been "far more likely to be exposed to Covid infection and far more likely to die - because they are far more likely to be in frontline roles.

"This is institutional racism. And it traps too many black and minority ethnic workers in poverty, insecurity and low pay."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he felt "disappointed" with what he had seen of the report's findings so far, insisting there were "structural" issues that needed to be addressed.

Speaking on a visit to Leeds, he told reporters that whilst there was "an acknowledgement of the problems, the issues, the challenges that face many black and minority ethnic communities" there was also "a reluctance to accept that that's structural".

The report had been due to be published last year but was pushed back until 2021, with the commission blaming Covid restrictions and the large number of responses from the public for the delay.

The Race Disparity Audit, published by then Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017, showed inequalities between ethnicities in educational attainment, health, employment and treatment by police and the courts

The 2017 Lammy Review found evidence of bias and discrimination against people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the justice system in England and Wales

Also in 2017, the McGregor-Smith Review of race in the workplace found people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds were still disadvantaged at work and faced lower employment rates than their white counterparts

An independent review of the Windrush scandal, published in March, found the Home Office showed "institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race"

Have you been affected by the issues covered in this report? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

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Race report: 'UK not deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities'

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The UK "no longer" has a system rigged against people from ethnic minorities, a review set up by No 10 says. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities said family structure and social class had a bigger impact than race on how people's lives turned out.

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“Systemic racism, or “institutional racism, can refers to how ideas of white superiority are captured in everyday thinking at a systems level: taking in the big picture of how society operates, rather than looking at one-on-one interactions. These systems can include laws and regulations, but also unquestioned social systems. Systemic racism can stem from education, hiring practices
or access.”

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At the 2020 BAFTA awards, Joaquin Phoenix called out systemic racism in the film industry in his acceptance speech for leading actor.

He said:

I think that we send a very clear message to people of colour that you're not welcome here. I think that's the message that we're sending to people that have contributed so much to our medium and our industry and in ways that we benefit from. [...]

I think it's more than just having sets that are multicultural. We have to do really the hard work to truly understand systemic racism.

"Systemic racism", or "institutional racism", refers to how ideas of white superiority are captured in everyday thinking at a systems level: taking in the big picture of how society operates, rather than looking at one-on-one interactions.

These systems can include laws and regulations, but also unquestioned social systems. Systemic racism can stem from education, hiring practices or access.

Read more: Explainer: what is casual racism?

In the case of Phoenix at the BAFTAs, he isn't calling out the racist actions of individuals, but rather the way white is considered the default at every level of the film industry.

Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton first wrote about the concept in their 1967 book Black Power: The Politics of Liberation.

They wrote:

When a black family moves into a home in a white neighborhood and is stoned, burned or routed out, they are victims of an overt act of individual racism which most people will condemn. But it is institutional racism that keeps black people locked in dilapidated slum tenements, subject to the daily prey of exploitative slumlords, merchants, loan sharks and discriminatory real estate agents. The society either pretends it does not know of this latter situation, or is in fact incapable of doing anything meaningful about it.

Invisible systems

Systemic racism assumes white superiority individually, ideologically and institutionally. The assumption of superiority can pervade thinking consciously and unconsciously.

One most obvious example is apartheid, but even with anti-discrimination laws, systemic racism continues.

Individuals may not see themselves as racist, but they can still benefit from systems that privilege white faces and voices.

Anti-racism activist Peggy McIntosh popularised the understanding of the systemic nature of racism with her famous " invisible knapsack " quiz looking at white privilege.

The quiz asks you to count how many statements you agree with, for items such as:

I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented

I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race

I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.

The statements highlight taken-for-granted privileges, and enable people to understand how people of colour may experience society differently.

Cultures of discrimination

Under systemic racism, systems of education, government and the media celebrate and reward some cultures over others.

In employment, names can influence employment opportunities. A Harvard study found job candidates were more likely to get an interview when they "whitened" their name.

Only 10% of black candidates got interview offers when their race could be implied by their resume, but 25% got offers when their resumes were whitened. And 21% of Asian candidates got interview offers with whitened resumes, up from 11.5%.

Systemic racism shows itself in who is disproportionately impacted by our justice system. In Australia, Indigenous people make up 2% of the Australian population, but 28% of the adult prison population.

Read more: As Indigenous incarceration rates keep rising, justice reinvestment offers a solution

A study into how systemic racism impacts this over-representation in Victoria named factors such as over-policing in Aboriginal communities, the financial hardship of bail, and increased rates of drug and alcohol use.

Australia's literature, theatres and art galleries are all disproportionately white, with less than 10% of artistic directors from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Read more: Australia's art institutions don't reflect our diversity: it's time to change that

A way forward

Systemic racism damages lives, restricting access and capacity for contribution.

It damages the ethical society we aspire to create.

When white people scoop all the awards, it reinforces a message that other cultures are just not quite good enough.

Public advocacy is critical. Speaking up is essential.

Racism is more than an individual issue. When systemic injustices remain unspoken or accepted, an unethical white privilege is fostered. When individuals and groups point out systemic injustices and inequities, the dominant culture is made accountable.

Find out if your children's school curriculum engages with Indigenous and multicultural perspectives. Question if your university course on Australian literature omits Aboriginal authors. Watch films and read books by artists who don't look like you.

As Phoenix put it in his speech:

I'm part of the problem. [...] I think it is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it. That's on us.

Understanding systemic racism is important. To identify these systemic privileges enables us to embrace the point of view of people whose cultures are silenced or minimised.

When we question systemic racism, worth is shared and ideas grow.

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Explainer: what is systemic racism and institutional racism?

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At the 2020 BAFTA awards, Joaquin Phoenix called out systemic racism in the film industry in his acceptance speech for leading actor. He said: I think that we send a very clear message to people of colour that you're not welcome here.

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Nearly 30 years into democracy, the education systems and culture within the systems are dominated by white figureheads. Students and staff members struggle within the environment to ensure that they receive the recognition that they deserve as well as the equitable and fair treatment enshrined in our constitution. The aim is to ultimately negate the effects of a system whose literature/study material ensured that Africanisms are proven redundant in the formal higher education sector.

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South Africa ushered in the democratic era almost three decades ago. However, coloniality and white supremacy are still deeply entrenched in the higher education system, as well as in broader society.

At universities, black students and academics find themselves having to navigate a system that is built on a racialised and oppressive social architecture. They are perpetually engaged in a struggle for space, equality, equity, social and epistemic justice and recognition.

During apartheid, education played a key role in promoting and maintaining white supremacy by imposing Eurocentric world views while sidelining and erasing African knowledge and ways of knowing. Institutions of higher learning were driving research and discourses that validated and upheld racism.

While South Africa's historically white universities have opened their doors to black students, not much has been done to transform university spaces, institutional cultures and the curriculum.

Academia continues to be dominated by white academics who ensure racialised grooming for succession. The academic agendas, institutional cultures and curriculum remain largely Eurocentric.

Historically white universities, while quick to dub themselves African universities, remain the guardians of white supremacist and Eurocentric traditions, views and values. The institutional cultures and curriculum detach black students and academics from their languages, cultures, communities and lived experiences.

In these often toxic and oppressive environments, students are expected to assimilate by speaking well, gaining skills and Eurocentric knowledge that will allow them to enter the marketplace, but not allow them to make fundamental changes to the status quo in South Africa.

White students, on the other hand, enter a space that is welcoming to them and upholds their languages, culture, norms and values - a space that is engineered for their growth and advancement, allowing them to hold a dominant position over black students and academics by virtue thereof.

Professor Nelson Maldonado-Torres argues that coloniality survives colonialism. It is maintained in books, in the criteria for academic performance, in cultural patterns, in the self-image of people, in aspirations of self and many other aspects of our experiences.

Apart from the Eurocentric hegemony in South African higher education, the country often experiences racist incidents on university campuses. A mistake universities often make in addressing and documenting acts of racism is in framing them as isolated incidents, whereas this is a systemic issue.

Universities are complicit in continued racism through institutional cultures that allow it, protect the perpetrators and lack the political and moral will to make meaningful systemic and structural change.

Every time there is a racist incident, there is an expected outcry and a call for change. Performative commissions, committees and task teams are set up; recommendations are made and symbolic measures are put in place to deal with racism, yet nothing really ever changes.

South Africa does not lack the research, reports, findings and recommendations on how to systemically and structurally address racism in higher education - but it lacks the political will and willingness to bring about change.

In the 2008 Report of the Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion and the Elimination of Discrimination in Public Higher Education Institutions, the department of higher education and training highlighted the problems and offered recommendations. These recommendations have been ignored by the institutions and the government has, unfortunately, failed to hold universities accountable for their failure in implementing the recommendations.

The report highlights that "unless attention is paid to changing the institutional culture (at universities), racist incidents and practices will continue unabated".

It also discusses in detail how institutional cultures at historically white universities in South Africa continue to "favour white experiences and marginalise black ones and, in so doing, result in pervasive feelings of alienation among black staff and students".

The 2008 report notes the focus on individual acts of racism "detracts from the underlying basis of individual action on the part of the perpetrator, i.e. the racism embedded in the institutional culture".

Yet, this report has been largely forgotten and ignored by the institutions. Some institutions are starting their own committees and task teams to investigate the same. They are likely to come up with similar, or the same, conclusions and recommendations in a year or two while doing little to nothing to work on systemic changes.

Universities continue to take a reactive stance on racism as opposed to being proactive. When incidents of racism are publicly exposed, universities centre their attention on reputational damage and meaningless assurances, instead of creating conducive environments and working on fundamental transformation.

They laud the transformational work done by black academics and students, often parading it as their own, with no understanding thereof, nor any interest in supporting it in an impactful and sustainable way. Transformation, cloaked in a corporatised version of multiculturalism, is viewed as an optional extra and a "nice-to-have" that is not deeply embedded in the institutional culture, policies and practices.

It is about management, efficiency and box-ticking. Institutional engagements and programmes about transformation are often attended by black students and staff only, making invisible and distorting the face of the perpetrators of racism in the institution. Instead of a deep, meaningful confrontation of the problem, universities choose to brush over history and host artificial celebrations of diversity.

A response to and celebration of diversity does not deeply challenge the hegemonic system. It only appeals to it and tries to assimilate and make blackness more palatable to it.

The language is then changed from "racism" to "lack of diversity".

The response of universities to transformation has been to appoint more black academics to meet employment equity targets - a mere addition of more African faces to white-dominated spaces.

Without dismantling whiteness and white supremacy in higher education first, adding black people to white-dominated higher education spaces will only contribute to their alienation.

The leadership of universities needs to be genuinely invested in and committed to the transformation of higher education in South Africa and courageous in its pursuit thereof. Universities need leaders who are not held captive by the fear of upsetting white supremacist alumni and donors/funders.

University policies need to be very clear on their transformation targets, timelines and monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Policies should further exhibit a decisive institutional stance on racism and the consequences of acts of racism by both staff and students.

The government needs to step up and take a zero-tolerance stance on racism in society at large and all public institutions.

The elected ministers and the relevant parliamentary oversight committees should work to ensure the implementation of the recommendations resulting from any report and these should be binding in one way or another.

Public universities must heed the call for decolonisation. This will assist immensely in the dismantling of institutional cultures that make racism not only acceptable but protect perpetrators when they should be held accountable.

Decolonisation needs to be a strategic priority for the higher education department, so it is unfortunate that in its Strategic Plan 2020-2025, decolonisation is not a priority but a touch-on.

Systemic changes in South African higher education must lead to an Africa-centric curriculum, geared towards sustainable development and solutions for Africa by Africans, not merely an insertion of African voices, as an afterthought, into an assimilative Eurocentric epistemological network.

Professor Andre Keet says this means challenging the ways higher education, research and publication remain complicit in and vital to continued [neo]colonial domination. We need to examine "systemically the philosophical foundations of African universities" in order to make headway with the decolonisation of knowledge to "advance the established agendas of African universities for their own epistemic and institutional decolonisation".

African universities can then start producing graduates who understand African societies and their socioeconomic conditions, as well as the complex and unjust world, and have the skills, drive and interest to develop solutions for Africa and for the world.

Awethu Fatyela is a transformation communication officer at Stellenbosch University's Transformation Office and previously worked as a researcher for the Economic Freedom Fighters in parliament. She writes in her personal capacity.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.

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Tackling systemic racism in South Africa's higher education system - The Mail & Guardian

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South Africa ushered in the democratic era almost three decades ago. However, coloniality and white supremacy are still deeply entrenched in the higher education system, as well as in broader society. At universities, black students and academics find themselves having to navigate a system that is built on a racialised and oppressive social architecture.

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Systems, laws, written or unwritten regulations, and deeply ingrained practices and attitudes that result in, condone, and sustain widespread unequal treatment and oppression of people of color are examples of structural and systemic racism.

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It is critical for cognitive scientists to address systemic racism since it is a scientifically solvable phenomenon. This tutorial examines the institutional structures that limit possibilities and results in life by racial category, with an emphasis on problems faced by Black Americans. Beginning with slavery and continuing with greatly diminished status, intentional behaviors and policies dating back to American colonial history have reinforced disadvantage in all spheres of life. Racial isolation is a result of racially separated housing, and Black Americans' access to opportunities, networks, education, wealth, health, and legal protection suffers disproportionately as a result. Systemic racism is a product of the integration of individual bias and racialized interactions into these institutional and social institutions. Unconscious inferences show non-Black Americans' ingrained associations: associating Black Americans with negative valences, criminal stereotypes, and low status, including animal rather than human. These associations have been empirically proven to start with perceptions. Implicit

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A justification for Structural Racism in comparison to Institutional Racism 

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A justification for Structural Racism in comparison to Institutional Racism 

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An opinion worth considering.

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Dr Tony Sewell, chairman of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities talks to @bbcnickrobinson about institutional racism

#R4Today heard earlier form Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrence

https://t.co/scZHtnF21Q

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Dr Tony Sewell, chairman of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities talks to @bbcnickrobinson about institutional racism

#R4Today heard earlier form Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrence

https://t.co/scZHtnF21Q https://t.co/i6Cgh9jBua

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Dr Tony Sewell, chairman of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities talks to @bbcnickrobinson about institutional racism#R4Today heard earlier form Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrencehttps://t.co/scZHtnF21Q pic.twitter.com/i6Cgh9jBua
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) March 31, 2021

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Dr Tony Sewell, chairman of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities talks to @bbcnickrobinson about institutional racism

#R4Today heard earlier form Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrence

https://t.co/scZHtnF21Q https://t.co/i6Cgh9jBua

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Dr Tony Sewell, chairman of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities talks to @bbcnickrobinson about institutional racism

#R4Today heard earlier form Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrence

https://t.co/scZHtnF21Q https://t.co/i6Cgh9jBua

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Dr Tony Sewell, chairman of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities talks to @bbcnickrobinson about institutional racism

#R4Today heard earlier form Matthew Ryder QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrence

https://t.co/scZHtnF21Q

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According to recent research, having a structural awareness of racism is linked to increased motivation to rectify racial disparities. This is turn assists us with our feelings of empathy in reaction to structural injustices. This research purports that when people challenge systemic discrepancies, members of privileged groups may find it difficult to see things from another's point of view and to show empathy. To overcome intergroup empathic shortcomings, transcend the socioeconomically unequal effects of apartheid, and move beyond it, a greater acceptance of structural racism is required.