Harold L. Drimmer Library Research Guides: Juneteenth Project : What is Systemic Racism?

Systemic Racism

What is Systemic Racism?

According to the ASPEN Institute, a leading think tank of Humanistic studies, systemic racism (also considered institutional or structural racism) is a system that allows public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other social norms to perpetuate racial inequity. It identifies dimensions of history and culture that enable privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure. (Glossary for Understanding the Dismantling Structural Racism/Promoting Racial Equity Analysis)

Educational Video on Systemic Racism

To shed light on this topic, act.tv published an educational video illustrating the impact systemic racism has on Black families and families of color.

"Systemic Racism Explained." YouTube, uploaded by Alex Cequea, act.tv, 16 Apr.
2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrHIQIO_bdQ&t=82s.

To learn more about the historic ties involving systemic racism, read the report “Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation”, published by the Center for American Progress, written by Danyelle Solomon, Connor Maxwell, and Abril Castro.

*JSTOR, a scholarly database, is providing readers free academic sources addressing racial injustice, police brutality, and disparities in the American economic and education system. Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus

Systemic Racism sources available in WCC Catalog:

Library Special Collections: Extraordinary Women of Color: Dr. Olivia J. Hooker Interviewed by Theresa Murphy

Systemic Racism: a Theory of Oppression by Joe R. Feagin
ISBN: 1281084921

Publication Date: 2010-01-10

In this fascinating book, Feagin develops a theory of systemic racism to interpret the highly racialized character and development of this society. Focusing centrally on white-on-black oppression, he asks what distinctive social worlds have been created by racial oppression over nearly four centuries, and what this has meant for the people of the United States.
Inequality in America by Stephen M. Caliendo
ISBN: 0813344999

Publication Date: 2014-07-01

Why does inequality have such a hold on American society and public policy? And what can we, as citizens, do about it? Inequality in America takes an in-depth look at race, class and gender-based inequality, across a wide range of issues from housing and education to crime, employment and health. Caliendo explores how individual attitudes can affect public opinion and lawmakers' policy solutions.
More Than a Mentoring Program by Graig M. Meyer; George W. Noblit
ISBN: 1641132485

Publication Date: 2018-07-01

In striving to reduce racial achievement gaps, schools and youth development programs are increasingly turning to youth mentoring programs. But how to ensure success? Here, accomplished educators Graig Meyer and George Noblit reveal how one such program challenged institutional racism and eliminated persistent achievement disparities in a local school system that boasts a national reputation for excellence. Their story, backed by research, offers real-world perspective on the important work of challenging systemic racism in schools.