Glossary Term

Structural racism

A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. Structural racism identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges and disadvantages associated with different races to endure and evolve. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Rather, it is a feature of the social, economic, and political systems in which we all exist.