Institutional Racism - Essay Example

147293 The term al Racism' was introduced by Carmichael and Hamilton in 1968 and they saw it as 'an analytical tool to examine how institutions can operate along racist lines without acknowledging or even recognising this.'1 Institutional Racism is connected with organisations and institutions and is unconnected with individualistic views or behaviour. This does not mean that Lockwood's theory of 'deferential worker' of the institution does not exist2. One of the best definitions says: "The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin which can be seen or detected in processes; attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people." From the Macpherson report - http://www.tuc.org.uk/sltg/institutional.htm It is also called Structural Racism and Systemic Racism that can be practised in institutions, and public organisations. Racial bias, prejudiced notions, bigotry belonging to the earlier century, blind beliefs that colour and creed make difference, race-restricted discriminations, etc. come under this category because there was role-allocation for centuries depending on racial differences. "In race relations the deterministic and ascriptive basis of role-allocation is crucial. If individuals or groups act on the assumption that genetically determined racial differences exist and govern social behaviour the consequences for society are the same, even if the assumption has no scientific foundation in human biology," Richmond (1972, p.1). Role- allocation has led to systematic discrimination of a particular race, separating it for security purposes, keeping the entire race away from the main stream, profiling such races for mean jobs, keeping them as slaves or bonded labourers, preventing their educational or professional advancement, not allowing them to take advantage of popular or state help, and leaving them out of the national policies are symptoms of institutional racism. "Institutionalised racism is an indirect and largely invisible process which can be compared with cloning and the glass ceiling. It is a term encompassing the, often unintentional, barriers and selection/promotion procedures which serve to disadvantage members of ethnic minority groups" http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/hrm/racism.html In UK, sometimes Media3 and Police Force4 are dubbed as racist institutions. But it need not be always true and correct. In the murder of Stephen Lawrence, this belief was countered as "the tragic murder of a young man and the distress of his bereaved parents have been exploited by pressure groups intent on establishing credibility for their claim that black people in Britain are victims who should be given preferential treatment"5. In this context, the institution is considered as racist and not the individual, who might be working according to the highest ethical and accepted standards, without any partiality towards any race or colour. This type of racism could also be a part of public sector culture. In The Times, Kwame McKenzie, while commenting on institutional racism in mental health institutions, says that mental health system knows the existence of racial indifference in treatment, but had been unable to do much about it, having started to address the problem only recently and the entire system has to raise up to eradicate it, although the individual workers are not racists in any way6. "However, in general, black British patients get worse treatment for mental health problems than white British patients. They are more likely to be treated against their will, more likely to be treated with drugs rather than psychotherapy and more likely to be treated on locked psychiatric wards" http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2012844,00.html It has been an acknowledged fact that media, mostly has the problem of imbalanced reporting of high profile cases by playing up racism card, even though in some cases, it is non-existent. The death of a person is never reported in a simple manner, but always gets highlighted with his colour and race in a very imbalanced way. Also it is alleged by Sir Ian Blair and others that media does not report the continuous modifying efforts equally. It is claimed that national newspapers often get the balance wrong not because of racist tendencies, but because of their eyes being glued on their profits. It can have the unfortunate result of alienating Blacks and Asians. Sometimes, it is a matter of contention if institutional racism is still at work or not. If it is, it could be equated with hostility and prejudice. Sociologists feel that a new racism has come into existence in recent years and it is more of a stereotype creator, like images of passive, but hysterical Asian women, dominant African women, wife-beater Asian man, and better behaved white people etc. "Howitt and Owusu-Bempah (1990: 397) point to a 'new racism' characterised as 'being a far more complex and subtle form of racism which, superficially, lacks the traditional emotive denigration of black people'. They conclude that 'seeing racism solely as a form of interpersonal antagonism not only sanitises it, but prevents us from defining ourselves as racist if we do not feel racial hatred'. Hence stereotypes appear which are not seen as 'prejudiced'" http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/hrm/racism.html Today, in the globalized world, some of the multinationals are accused of institutional racism. It is not always true, as people of all races are trying to make a systematic effort to come out of it. In Australia there is a conscientious effort to bring the aborigines into mainstream of life, by improving educational and employment opportunities for them. "Overall the Bar Association considers that the scheme will bring small but growing numbers of Indigenous lawyers to the Bar every year. The University of New South Wales and the University of Technology, Sydney will be the initial sources of students with other universities coming on stream if the scheme is successful" http://www.hrmguide.net/australia/diversity/indigenous_barristers.htm In UK, Commission for the future Multi-Ethnic Britain was established as nations of Britain are 'viewed as being at a turning point in their history.' The Commission will help people to 'rethink about national identity, understand the transitional nature of all identities, achieve a balance between cohesion, difference and equality, address and eliminate all kinds of racism, reduce the inequalities in material benefits and build a human rights culture.7" The Commission will go through cultural institutions, health, social welfare, education, employment, asylum and immigration, political policies, and religious institutions as its main focus. There are claims that institutional racism is receiving a set back in recent years and diversity is in demand, because it is noted that diverse candidates are the most motivated by 'opportunity of advancement'. It is said that workplace institutional racism still exists and is yet to be completely tackled. Institutional racism has the worst possible impact on race relations. It makes integration and assimilation impossible, makes the ethnic minorities jittery and hence, more defensive and less objective. It is a matter of great surprise that skin colour and facial differences have ruled human societies for so long and so effectively giving way to theories of 'inferior and lesser breeds' that have to be ruled by 'superior race'. Race thinking that dominated Europe during colonialism and Nazi days has had a set back in recent times, when people became more interested in human rights to all without taking colour and creed into consideration. "Race relations in contemporary Britain are increasingly characterised by feelings of political disenfranchisement and social alienation among ethnic minorities and among the young in particular. There is lack of confidence in the apparent fairness and impartiality of the justice system," Blackstone et al (1998, p.23). Reducing poverty and social exclusion, promoting significant changes in the public policies, implementing specific and strategic actions, working for equal social, political, educational and economic opportunities will eventually help to reduce the problem. Till recently, minorities were thought to be disorderly, hysterical, vulnerable and defenceless. This line of thinking cannot be properly justified any more and hence, discrimination of any kind against any individual cannot be justified either. "Discrimination consists of unequal, unfavourable, and unjustifiable treatment based on a person's sex, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, language, class, sexual preference, age, physical disability or any other improper ground," Bowling and Philips, (2002, p.38). Institutional racism gives rise to contextual discrimination, and in the absence of equal treatment and equal opportunity to the discriminated lot, there is no justification in expecting equal outcome. "Without losing sight of the importance of the overt expression of racism, individual prejudices and direct discrimination, indirect 'institutional' racism has become the focus for many critics because it is both more subtle and potentially more pervasive," Bowling and Philips (p.41). Institutions are made by men and naturally can be changed by men and abolishing institutional racism completely is one of the tasks ahead for mankind. Much has been achieved in the last few decades, but still there is some distance to go. In US there were unlimited examples of racism, like Social Security Act of 1935 that excluded domestic and agricultural workers and all other races from retirement benefit and Property Appraisal System of 1930s where only all-whites were entitled for government loans on properties. "There were three institutional barriers that acted as a deterrent to the implementation of anti-racist social work education and training: the under-representation of black clients, the under-representation of black staff, and the ineffectiveness of anti-discriminatory policies," according to Penketh (2000, p. 134). Talking about racism and its vicious circle in America, Knowles and Prewitt (1969, p. 160) say: "The conceptual framework has emphasized the existence of dependent, subordinate black subsectors within the major institutional sectors of metropolitan society.The racial functions of the different institutional sectors reinforce one another - for whites, dominance in one sector reinforces dominance in another - for blacks, subordination in one sector reinforces subordination in another." There is absolutely no doubt that institutional racism is reaching its end in the advanced societies. It is outdated and has no place in the modern society. American society, which cherished institutional racism for a very long time, is making sincere effort to come out of it although total eradication of racism from all fields is proving to be difficult. "Racism is both ideology and manifestation. Institutional discrimination may be racism's most visibly significant manifestation, but ideology is a tacit network of beliefs and values that encourages and justifies these discriminatory manifestations," says Shaw et al (1987, p.26). Nevertheless, it exists in many covert ways; but then, it is for the people to point out whenever they are confronted by it, without exaggeration. Claims of institutional racism should never be used to cover up inefficiency and lack of merit. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Blackstone, Tessa, Bhikhu Parekh and Peter Sanders (1998), eds., Race Relations in Britain, Routledge, London. 2. Bowling, Ben and Phillips, Coretta (2002), Racism, Crime and Justice, Longman, Harlow. 3. Knowles, Louis and Prewitt, Kenneth (1989), ed., Institutional Racism in America, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 4. Penketh, Laura (2000), Tackling Institutional Racism, The Policy Press, University of Bristol. 5. Richmond, Anthony H. (1972), Readings in Race and Ethnic Relations, Pergamon Press, Oxford. 6. Rex, John (1970), Race Relations in Sociological Theory, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. 7. Solomos, John and Back, Les (1996), Racism and Society, MacMillan Press Ltd., Hampshire. 8. Shaw, John W., Peter G. Nordlie and Richard M. Shapiro (1987), Strategies for improving race relations, Manchester University Press. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://www.tuc.org.uk/sltg/institutional.htm 2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/racism/Story/0,,629927,00.html 3. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2012844,00.html 4. http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/hrm/racism.html 5. http://www.hrmguide.net/australia/diversity/indigenous_barristers.htm 6. http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/diversity/parekh_report.htm 7. http://www.irr.org.uk/2004/february/ak000013.html 8. Read More