So You Want to Talk About Race

Systemic racism is a central theme in Oluo’s book. She defines the term as “any prejudice against someone because of their race, when those views are reinforced by systems of power” (26). This approach to racism shifts the emphasis away from individual racists, such as neo-Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan and the Alt-Right, most of whom are politically disenfranchised and socially marginalized. Systemic discrimination focuses instead on the insidious forms of racism woven into the fabric of American society. The impacts of systemic racism are apparent in all aspects of life and include high unemployment rates in communities of color, wage inequality for racial minorities, high incarceration rates for Black men, low college enrollment rates for people of color, and a lack of representation at all levels of government. Local leaders shore up systemic racism in a variety of ways. For example, labeling minority neighborhoods “problem areas” reinforces biases many White people have about Black violence. In addition, it leads to more aggressive forms of policing, resulting in more arrests and the use of excessive force in communities of color.

Combating systemic racism requires recognizing that it exists and ending our complacency with it. It also requires action on multiple fronts.