Racial Discrimination: an Analysis of Systemic Inequality

Introduction

There is, of course, a particular and very common usage of discrimination that has to do with race. It is on that topic that my present concern will focus. Racial discrimination is, in one respect, a complex concept because it operates at so many levels. At one level, it involves brute practices, practices that are usually illegal, and that can be the focus of lawsuits or court cases or complaints before human relations commissions. These practices occur in all sorts of places: in the sale of goods and services, including accommodations at restaurants and hotels; when applying for credit or renting or buying homes; in dealing with law enforcement and courts; in the workplace.

At another level, the kinds of job practices I’ve just described and the conditions of social life that make them possible and worth doing are correlated with racial beliefs. In certain parts of the city, Black people are presumed dangerous; with the descriptive fact that Black men commit more crime than others is conjoined the prescriptive desire that they should be removed, by whatever means available, from the general population. Especially in recent years, racial profiling on the part of the police has become a matter of widespread public controversy. There is still another level at which racial discrimination of a very specific kind is said to occur. At yet another level, it points to the playing out of ethnocentrism when, say, encountering the stranger.

Nonetheless, it remains true that today, the most intensely debated and publicized issue in the contemporary United States concerning the race-related character of discrimination has to do with megadiscrimination, so to speak. That is, racial discrimination that is multilayered in its sources, means, and consequences, typically enacted by large institutions and utterly impervious to changing legislation or liberal journalism. So one does discuss, today, 'racial discrimination' in forums such as this one. We do so exactly because now one white person or another knows that a merely verbal, merely legal, merely performative rejection of such a social praxis would be immediately recognized as either a failed test of loyalty to the quasi-religion of anti-racism or as just another stomachable truth of nature, yet another fact that only God could change.

Historical Perspectives and Contexts

Racial discrimination (or racism) is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that can take numerous forms. It has deep historical roots that are expressed in different cultures and societies. Racist attitudes and ideologies are based not only on the premise that different inherited biological traits make one race superior and another race inferior, but also build on an asymmetrical power structure prevailing in society. Consequently, racism is irrational and morally wrong. Even if empirical research does not support the existence of distinct races, people continue to develop beliefs about races and nationality groups that have become the basis for discrimination. These beliefs create the basis for prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. In short, racism is more about attitudes than biology. The study of social differences based on biologically inherited differences is known as the biology of racism, and this explanation is unacceptable in democratic societies where the ideas of liberty and equality are prioritized.

Understandings about race and racism are complex and have changed dramatically over time. The concept comes from the term old French rater to which the Italian word razza also refers. Race is a traditional term that first appeared in the early 17th century, with racism in the early 20th century. The history of race is intrinsically involved with notions of displacement, replacement, privation, assimilation, right-wing domination, dehumanization, and denigration of those who are construed as non-white. Racial ideology emerged alongside the seemingly natural order of social hierarchy, domination, and oppression. According to social organizations and scientific institutions, from the Renaissance to the early 19th century, the influential idea of racial difference was prevalent. Despite clear evidence that throughout history there were contacts, conflicts, and exchanges benefiting the two populations, religious rivalry and the loathsome loot of valuable treasure led to the division of the area between the tripartite that gave rise to the present racial category.

Forms and Manifestations of Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination can take many forms, which often intersect to produce exclusion and disadvantage. One framework used to categorize racial discrimination identifies three forms: direct, indirect, and systemic racism. Direct and indirect discrimination are often linked with racism manifest in overt acts of hate or bias, or in policies and processes where the outcomes are manifestly unequal, such as the incarceration rates of Indigenous and African Americans. However, these are not the only ways racism can manifest, and subtle, nuanced understandings of the workings of racism may be found in the everyday practices of institutions, as well as in people's personal, one-on-one dealings. This can include the use of racist slurs, jokes, crude stereotypes, and so on, which are practiced openly in some of the literature examined.

The types of discrimination often overlap and are interconnected. For example, systemic racism, otherwise known as institutional or structural racism, occurs when the established laws, customs, and practices systematically reflect and produce inequities based on race. This can be thought of as indirect racism – or in the Australian context, structural racism. Given that racism has been able to exist in so many overt, covert, and institutionalized forms, and these forms often interrelate or intersect, racism has been pervasive, highly destructive, and notoriously difficult to eliminate. Over time, laws and programs have been introduced that intend to provide equal opportunity or to eliminate racist attitudes, beliefs, and prejudices within individuals, groups, institutions, and the broader community.

Racial discrimination can take many forms, often intersecting to produce disadvantage. As there are multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, this report may, at times, focus on the intersection of race with gender and low SES. Laws are in place to try to eliminate racism from workplaces, extend settlement support to new refugees, and protect Indigenous peoples' rights and culture. Despite these approaches, and an increased community focus on the importance of anti-racism, policymakers from a range of sectors have identified the need for fresh, contemporary research into people's experiences of racial discrimination. Media discourses are one of several sites, or channels, where these experiences and perceptions can be conveyed. The words used and discursive strategies employed by the media to communicate these things were also of interest.

Impact and Consequences of Racial Discrimination

The impacts of racial discrimination are far-reaching, affecting individuals, communities, and broader societies. An extensive body of research has examined the psychological effects of racial discrimination on affected individuals, showing that it is associated with acute and chronic stress and trauma. A number of short- and long-term socio-economic consequences have been observed. Racial discrimination is associated with disparities in income and wealth, education and qualifications, and in employment terms. Racial discrimination undermines community cohesion and residents’ sense of safety and security in their neighborhoods. Victims of racial or ethnic harassment report lower levels of trust and satisfaction with their local area, and within these neighborhoods, those exposed to more frequent harassment face the greatest social consequences. Racial discrimination can set in place structural barriers that prevent equal access to physical, social, and economic resources and therefore impact individual and collective opportunities and health of affected individuals. Racial discrimination has been recognized as a public health problem.

In the longer term, racial discrimination can also lead to transgenerational effects, with marked impacts on future generations through parents’ experiences and exposure to race-based disadvantage. Indigenous children in Australia report shame, fear, and sadness as a result of their own experiences and on behalf of their parents’ exposure to racial discrimination. Ethnic minority youth in diverse contexts detail the accumulation of invasions of their identity, a deep existential wounding in which they often narrate 'I am less' or 'I am bad'. This section presents and comments in detail on the evidence of the consequences of racial discrimination regarding psychological health and well-being; socio-economic status; residents’ sense of safety and neighborhood trust; and impacts on future generations to inform, document, and conceptualize strands of impacts that assist in presenting a comprehensible, grounded narrative of racial discrimination and society.

Strategies for Combating Racial Discrimination

Policy making and law reform are clearly important aspects of acting to reduce something as pervasive and systemic as racial inequality. The importance of this was highlighted by all the young New Zealanders who discussed law reform as a necessary first step. A number of scholars argue that while policy and law reform are necessary, they are not sufficient to realize race equality. Ensuring that policy and law support anti-racism requires wider attitudes to change. There seems to be consensus on the need for educational and advocacy strategies to build anti-racism efforts along with active policy and legal support to the same end.

There are a number of initiatives to reduce racial discrimination and promote race equality in Aotearoa. These include community-based initiatives such as the T? Rangatira Network and educational resources networks, M?ori and ethnic media campaigns, and mainstream media advocacy and pressure groups. There are a number of institutional efforts to reduce discrimination and promote race equality in national policy. Broadly, processes that aim to ensure progress towards racial equality and the reduction of racial discrimination can be seen to fall into four different areas: strategies that engage community education and attitudinal change at one level, and legal protection and formal proceedings to address complaints at another; initiatives that are more grassroots or institutional in orientation; initiatives that respond to reports of institutional and systemic racism; and the use of technology and social media. Each of these strategies is discussed below.

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