Institutional Racism Essay

1. Jim Crow was a set of laws enforcing racial segregation in the southern United States from 1877 to the 1960’s. These barbaric and corrupt laws were set mainly against African Americans, limiting their human rights such as voting. The Whites firmly believed they were the superior race over African Americans because they labeled themselves as being more intelligent and civilized.

The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enacted that mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in southern states of the former confederacy. The blacks were said to be “separate but equal” and this separation led to conditions for the blacks that tended to be inferior to those provided for whites. Law-enforced segregation mainly applied to the southern United States whereas northern segregation had patterns of segregation in housing that was enforced by the covenants, bank lending practices, and job discrimination. For decades, this included discriminatory union practices for decades. The Jim Crow laws segregated public schools, public places, public transportation, restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains. Therefore, it did nothing to bring about social or economic equality.

Let me start by explaining what the Jim Crow Law is, under the Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed to be servants, and God

After the Civil War, most Southern and Border States deprived the basic rights of African Americans. Jim Crow was a fictitious character created by a white entertainer to ridicule African Americans. The laws were made in an attempt to keep African Americans away from whites after slavery ended (“Examples of Jim Crow”). The Jim Crow laws affected education, health care, and social events. “From Delaware to California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states (and cities, too) could impose legal punishments on people for consorting with members of another race” (“Jim Crow Laws”). These punishments could be brutal or sometimes fatal.

About a hundred years after the Civil War, almost all American lived under the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow Laws actually legalized segregation. These racially enforced rules dominated almost every aspect of life, not to mention directed the punishments for any infraction. The key reason for the Jim Crow Laws was to keep African Americans as close to their former status as slaves as was possible. The following paper will show you the trials and tribulations of African Americans from the beginning through to the 1940’s where segregation was at its peak.

“Jim Crow Laws were statutes and ordinances established between 1874 and 1975 to separate the white and black races in the American South. In theory, it was to create "separate but equal" treatment, but in practice Jim Crow Laws condemned black citizens to inferior treatment and facilities.” The Jim Crows Laws created tensions and disrespect towards blacks from whites. These laws separated blacks and whites from each other and shows how race determines how an individual is treated. The Jim Crow laws are laws that are targeted towards black people. These laws determine how an individual is treated by limiting their education, having specific places where blacks and whites could or could not go, and the punishments for the “crime”

The Jim Crow laws were established to create segregation between racial groups in the south. They segregated African Americans from other racial groups in schools, restaurants, and public transportation, and backtracked towards slavery. The results of the Jim Crow Laws would be in effect of years to

Jim Crow Laws- Jim Crows Laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. The laws followed the idea of “separate but equal” for African Americans, but “separate but equal” idea was not that equal. Conditions for African Americans were consistently worst then those for whites. Many of this laws were in enacted after the Reconstruction period and were in forced until 1965. Jim Crow laws showed that even though slavery had ended, much had to be done for African Americans to gain full rights.

The Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation. This set of rules to show the dominance of the white race were absolutely appalling. They were mainly operated in the southern portion of the United States, but not exclusively. The Jim Crow laws “were in place from the late 1870’s until the civil rights movement began in the 1950’s” (“Jim Crow Laws”). Blacks and whites could not use the same drinking fountains, restrooms, or attend the same restaurants, churches, and schools. It was considered rape or an unwanted advance for a black man to offer his hand to a white woman. Another law was that african-american couples could not show affection towards each other in a public area because it “offended whites” (Pilgrim) along with countless more. There

A good example of institutional racism is incarceration. An 1850 census shows that, there are currently more black men in prison than were enslaved in the year 1850 (Arene-Morley, 2014). Incarceration statics shows how the system is very unfair to minorities. The crack vs. cocaine sentencing laws also depicts incarceration disparities. Crack is a drug used predominantly by black people while cocaine is predominantly used by white people. Crack and cocaine is essentially the same drug. The only ingredient that separated them is banking soda. Even though these two drug are virtually the same, crack gets a much harsher sentencing than cocaine (Kurtzleben, 2010).

Racial inequality is something I have firsthand experience of and although I have never experienced institutional racism first hand, I know all too well the effects they have on a society. Institutional racism is the act of discrimination in areas such as work, education, and housing. Institutional racism is also apparent in the criminal justice system. Institutional racism largely effects the African American and Hispanic demographics. I look at institutional racism as policies put in place to keep a certain group at an extreme disadvantage in life.

Institutional racism on the other hand is far broader in context and more complex. It refers to the ways in which racism has infiltrated into social institutions which govern, discriminate and oppress various groups within that society based on their race (McConnochie et al, 1988). These institutions within our societies, such as schools and healthcare services, use racism in a systematic manner which favours one group over all the others. Although racism as a notion is the same for both individual and institutional purposes, the consequences of the two are vastly different. Sociologists have argued that in the recent years racism has shifted from excluding groups on a biological basis, to more of a cultural basis of difference (Giddens, 2001; Van Krieken et al, 2010).

Throughout this course we have learned about many things, one in particular would be Racism. We have learned about many different types of racism along with examples of racism. Before I go into specific examples of racism that I have learn about in this class, I will first define and explain the differences between racism, prejudice or also known as bias, discrimination, race, and racist so there 's a clear understanding of why I picked the specific examples. The definition of racism that we learned in class would be an “Institutionalized system with disproportionate unjust outcomes for a particular race”. Prejudice or also known as bias was defined as “A negative feeling, opinion, or attitude toward a certain category or people” this would be an feeling with no action acted upon, where discrimination is defined as “Action or inaction toward a category of people” which would be acting on the negative feelings or opinions of a certain group. The definition for race is a “Social construct, but a lived reality” while a racist is “Discrimination based on the category of race”. (Disadvantage privilege notes, 2016)

Structural racism is the ongoing and historical reproductions of the racialized structure of society through the combinations of all forms of racism. Structural racism exists in widespread racial segregations and stratification based on education, income, and wealth. “Structural racism results in large-scale, society-wide inequalities on the basis of race,” (Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.). America in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s is a textbook example of structural

When the word racism comes to mind many people think of a single person acting against another based on one’s race. However, there are larger forms of racism that exist at all levels of human society. Institutional racism refers to the practices of specific institutions that affect people based on their race. Institutional racism can be practiced knowingly or unknowingly. Redlining is a form of institutionalized racism that began with the National Housing Act in the 1930’s. Redlining is the practice by which banks refused to offer minority loans for houses in white neighborhoods. Minorities were forced to turn to egregious loans in minority neighborhoods regardless of their economic class. “Sharkey’s research shows that black families making $100,000 typically live in the kinds of neighborhoods inhabited by white families making $30,000.” That means that minority middle-class workers such as doctors, lawyers, and business owners were forced to live in lower