Question

with lots of economic stress that impacts different communities in different ways, what ways do you see systematic racism being enacted in our current response to COVID-19, and the ways that we've enacted policy responses? How are we replicating, or maybe fighting (hopefully?), institutionalized racism?

Answer 1

Ans- Systemic racism is also known as institutional racism. It is a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power, and education, among other issues. For example- If you look at the last presidential election in the United States, African Americans waited in line 23 minutes before they could vote, on average, whereas white Americans waited in line 12 minutes. That’s an example of systemic racism.

Here we are 30 years later of that trend line,which is going down, but the disparity is still twice as high. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, ethnic minorities in the US are twice as likely to catch and die from the disease as white people.

One of the challenges with pay equity is it’s 'equal pay for equal work', but we don’t always look at inequitable distribution of the types of jobs people have.

The ways or policies can be in the form of The Black Lives Matter movement is spurring discussions about racial equity in the workplace.

Many organisations already discuss how they can be more inclusive. They broadcast their commitments to being “equal opportunity” employers clearly on their career pages – though the definition of an “equal opportunity employer” varies from company to company. If we want to see true racial equity, then we must promote people of color to leadership positions.