Institutional Racism - Essay Example

Institutional Racism Introduction Whereas the public American Workplaces and public institutions have become more integrated and diversified, quite a few Whites have social relations with people of color (Hill, p. 1). Statistics indicate institutional racism in health, economic and economic institution. In 2004, statistics indicated that per capita income for Whites, African Americans and Hispanics in the USA are $25,203, $16035, and $14,106 respectively (Hill, p. 2). Similarly, the 2005 unemployment rate for Whites, African Americans and Hispanics was 4%, 8.5%, and 4.5% respectively (Hill, p. 2). Those covered by private health insurance for Whites, African Americans and Hispanics for the same period were 71.4%, 53.9% and 41.7% respectively. The education sector also suffers from institutional racism. This paper discusses the white privilege founded on institutional racism, which is a major challenge for the international student fraternity in American universities such as the University of Massachusetts Lowell where I have studied. Institutional Racism Education continues to gain value in modern society and parents would like their children to get the best possible quality of education. Consequently, there has been an increase in the number of international students seeking further education in foreign continents such as America and Europe. Education in these continents is perceived to be of higher quality. These students are presented with unique opportunities for international exposure even as they greatly contribute to the economic growth of the host countries. At the same time, international students are faced with a myriad of challenges beyond their control and sometimes they have to endure until the end of their studies. Institutional racism refers to patterns in the society whereby adverse, unfavorable or oppressive conditions are applied towards certain identifiable groups based on their race, ethnicity and skin color. As an international student from the United Arab Emirates and studying at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, I encountered institutionalized racism in various forms, to the detriment of international students. We have incidences for instance where black and other colored students are physically abused by their white counterparts on campus. A recent episode of open campus racism occurred when some students believed to belong to a fraternity threw a party in commemoration of Martin Luther King’s birth and black students were mocked. Nonblack students donned loose-fitting basketball shirts, flashed signs of gangs and drunk from hollowed-out watermelons to send a message of mockery to their black counterparts. Although the entire student fraternity received the incident with disbelief, outrage and contempt, it showed how deep racism is institutionalized in the education system. White privilege, which refers to historical, institutional perpetuation of a system in which whites are preferentially treated just because of their skin color, is rampant. The students who originate from Europe are exempted from oppressive racial or national culture by virtue of their skin color at the expense of students from other parts of the world such as Asia, African, the Americas, and Arabian countries. The culture in American institutions such as universities gives privileges to people of European origin over others. This practice dates back to the dark ages of slavery where whites practised slavery, went untouched with land grabbing, genocide and many other wrongdoings. Such practices are evident in the education system again in favor of whites in various forms. Just from the point of entering the college grounds, the kind of inspection that an international student of African, Indian or Arabian dissent will receive is not the same as what a white European or American will receive. The former group is treated with suspicion and is sometimes associated with terrorism while the later is seen not to pose any threat. This is a form of modern discrimination grounded in institutional policies, which may not have had discrimination as one of the goals. This kind of treatment is discriminative and demoralizing considering our racist world which is a White Supremacist at the same time. The institutionalized form of racism perpetuating white privilege goes on to the classrooms where inevitably most of the professors are white. To begin with, students of color are perceived with stereotypes; blacks for instance are talked of as “can never be scientific,” those of Arabian dissents are associated with terrorism while Indians are associated with bad smell. Such kind of racial profiling is very common in American institutions of higher education and has an adverse effect on interactions as well as student life on the campus. A lot of suspicion is applied on nonwhite students when a mistake is done whereas the whites sometimes are not even asked to explain. Failure in class work is considered with low intellectual capacities for Africans and Arabians for instance while whites are expected to improve. Such stereotypes further institutionalize racism in the educational institutions which detrimental to future development (Hill, p. 2). Research has shown that discrimination in colleges extends to the interactions between the international students and the lecturers, fellow students, staff at the universities as well the well the larger community around the campus. Some discriminatory remarks by students include “Latinos cannot be logical or scientific, a white guy was laughing my name,” and many others. As international students there are instances of frustration accessioned by being ignored by professor on the grounds of our English being poor when compared to that of natives. Some professors also assume that all of us are at the same level when it comes to thinking styles and academic training and culture hence do not take their time to illuminate on the issues. This serves to give the natives an upper hand while those of us having international backgrounds have to work extra hard to catch up. This is discriminative and perpetuates institutional racism. The problem is sometimes compound further by some international students who also carry stereotypes with them. The stereotypes work to their own detriment by deterring their meaningful interactions and engagements with others on the campus. Some of them when asked about their campus interactions inform that they cannot for instance date black Americans for they dislike their features such as hair. It therefore becomes an international problem which has been perpetuated by popular cultures, ideologies of racism. In China for instance dark skinned individuals such as Africans, Latinos and some Asians are perceived with inferiority and such stereotype mind may be carried over to international colleges. There is also a notion especially among white students that the white culture which dominant is naturally right. Such stereotypes and backward mindsets breed animosity and tension that is racially characterized on the colleges. Institutional racism is exacerbated further when international students are exempted from requirement of understanding American history and some courses on diversity. Individual perceptions held by the international students influence their choice of interactions and this in turn impacts on the overall climate at the college. Once such perceptions such as cultural differences, racial and ethnic influence the thinking and choices made by both professors, native students as well as the international ones then racial discrimination comes into play whereby some feel that preference is being given to others. This is an experience I have seen and gone through personally as an international student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Conclusion The statistics cited in this paper and from other sources are not strange to someone who accesses or obtains services from institutions, cities, college graduations, corporate headquarters and hospital emergency rooms in the USA (Hill, p. 2). Thus, it is obvious that institutional racism is present at the University of Massachusetts Lowelland other American learning institutions and it is negatively impacts on students’ learning environment especially for international students. As an international student, I feel there is need for students in multicultural environments to be taught about culture and race. It is of great importance for international student offices in American colleges to collaborate with multicultural affairs offices to create opportunities for students to be educated on race relations on the campus and the multicultural nature that the American society is. Work Cited Hill, J. H. “The Everyday Language of White Racism,” 2008. Malden, MA; Wiley-Blackwell. Read More