Racism as a Social Problem: Evidence, Causes, and Policy Solutions

Introduction: Understanding Racism and Its Forms

One of the key social problems of the present day is racism. By definition, prejudice involves a negative or hostile attitude toward an individual who belongs to a particular group, essentially because that individual is assumed to possess the undesirable qualities attributed to the group. According to the United Nations, racial discrimination is defined as any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference made on the basis of race, color, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of impairing human rights and fundamental freedoms in all areas of life (Tepperman and Curtis, 2003). It is within this framework that the social problem of racism can be fully understood.

There are three kinds of racism: institutional racism, individual racism, and internalized racism.

Institutional racism, also referred to as structural racism, is the least visible form. It encompasses any general prejudice embedded in an existing social structure, program, or practice that denies certain groups equal access to goods, services, and rights on the basis of their ethnic or racial affiliation. Examples of institutional racism include the denial of loans by financial institutions to individuals from certain localities, and rental markets that refuse to accommodate people from particular communities. This produces unequal educational opportunities for some minority groups as well as unequal wealth distribution among both ethnic and racial groups (Tepperman and Curtis, 2003).

Individual racism is a more visible form in which a person makes unfounded assumptions about the motivations and capabilities of another person based on a stereotypical understanding of that person's ethnic or racial group membership. Examples include prejudice from extremist groups such as the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, but also encompass implicit bias such as discrimination against certain job applicants based on their ethnicity or race.

Lastly, internalized racism is considered the most damaging form. It involves members of a racial or ethnic group internalizing the stereotypes imposed on them by others. The harmful impact of both individual and institutional racism can lead a number of individuals to undervalue their own worth, abandon their life goals, and passively accept the racial barriers that perpetuate a cycle of oppression and inequality (Tepperman and Curtis, 2003).

Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence of Racism

Racism has been a significant societal problem throughout history. There is a wide range of evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, that illustrates the magnitude of racism occurring in the world today. From a qualitative standpoint, racialized individuals are less likely to find employment than those of European origin. For instance, in the province of Ontario, Canada, the highest rates of unemployment are found among racialized groups. In addition, racialized employees are more likely to be concentrated in low-status jobs (Ball and Tepperman, 2016).

Populations that face discrimination frequently perceive that they are treated unfairly by various parties, including the police, government, and public service providers—and research confirms this perception. White individuals of a given socioeconomic class tend to receive better treatment than racialized individuals of the same class. This form of discrimination can prevent racialized people from accessing essential social services (Ball and Tepperman, 2016).

According to Ball and Tepperman (2016), racial inequality in employment is reflected in wage gaps between racialized and non-racialized individuals. For instance, racialized Canadians earn only 81 cents for every dollar paid to non-racialized Canadians. Further analysis reveals that gender compounds this disparity: racialized women earn only 56 cents for every dollar paid to a non-racialized Canadian man.

Quantitatively, racialized employees constitute more than 40 percent of the workforce in the cloth, tapestry, and textile industries; more than 36 percent within the taxi industry; and 42 percent within the electronics industry. Yet racialized personnel represent only 3 percent of senior managers, and just 1.7 percent sit on boards of directors. Statistics also indicate that between 2001 and 2006, the Ministry of Labor in Canada required organizations in Ontario to repay more than $168 million in unpaid wages to workers who are people of color. More than $100 million of this amount remained unpaid at the time of reporting (Ball and Tepperman, 2016).

Causes and Social Roots of Racism

Racism as a social problem is caused by the historical process known as racialization—the tendency within a given society to introduce racial distinctions into situations that could otherwise be understood and managed without them. In this way, race becomes the basis for decisions about hiring, purchasing, renting, supporting, and respecting others. These practices can occur easily unless individuals take deliberate steps to avoid them.

A particularly relevant example is racial profiling within policing and judicial systems. There is a tendency to observe and interpret the behavior of individuals differently based on their race. In the Canadian context, Aboriginal men are more likely to be stopped and questioned by police than white men, often under the expectation that they may be carrying weapons or drugs (Tepperman and Curtis, 2003).

Conclusion: The Case for Quality Public Education

From the policies discussed above, developing good-quality public schools is the most promising policy solution for alleviating and ultimately ending racism within society. This is largely because obtaining a good education is now essential for upward mobility in the present day. Without it, individuals are far more likely to end up in minimum-wage jobs that place them well below the poverty line. In order to give minority communities a genuine prospect of advancing into good jobs with fair compensation, forming high-quality public schools is a fundamental step. Such schools would help ensure that these populations are prepared to take on the many skilled jobs that modern economies are generating (Crone, 2015). Furthermore, improving school quality entails hiring more qualified teachers, which would directly benefit the many poor minority students who are currently being taught by uncertified and inexperienced instructors (Crone, 2015).

References

Ball, J., & Tepperman, L. (2016). The stacked deck: An introduction to social inequality. Oxford University Press.

Crone, J. A. (2015). How can we solve our social problems? SAGE Publications.

Tepperman, L., & Curtis, J. E. (2003). Social problems: A Canadian perspective. Oxford University Press.