What is Institutional Racism?
Institutional racism is a form of racism which is structured into political and social institutions. It occurs when institutions, including corporations, governments and universities, discriminate either deliberately or indirectly, against certain groups of people to limit their rights. Race-based discrimination in housing, education, employment and health for example are forms of institutional racism. It reflects the cultural assumptions of the dominant group, so that the practices of that group are seen as the norm to which other cultural practices should conform (Anderson and Taylor, 2006). Institutional racism is more subtle, less visible, and less identifiable than individual acts of racism, but no less destructive to human life and human dignity. The people who manage our institutions may not be racists as individuals, but they may well discriminate as part of simply carrying out their job, often without being aware that their role in an institution is contributing to a discriminatory outcome. This not only threatens the efforts to improve health care for all Americans, but it also creates problems for a society that continues to struggle with a legacy of racial discrimination and oppression (Copeland, 2005). Although institutional racism may not necessarily be caused by intentional racism, it does however have very serious consequences for people of color in the United States especially in the health care system.