Institutionalized discrimination

Guide to oppressions & intersections in SF
Basics: Classism Racism Nationalism, colonialism, xenophobia Religious intolerance Antisemitism Sexism Homophobia & heterosexism Size & beauty standards Disability & ableism Ageism
Manifestations: Institutionalized, systemic, structural Unconscious Conscious Internalized Power relations
Responses: Activism: Antiracism, feminism, etc. Consciousness-raising Redress & affirmative action Diversity & representation
SFnal treatments: Race and feminist SF Race-and-gender stereotypes in SF
See also: Women of color in SF Queer women in SF Women Make SF
About the GOI

Institutionalized discrimination or oppression, also called "systemic" or "structural", and most frequently associated with racism and sexism, refers to an existing situation which, while arguably a "level playing field" on the surface, produces biased results in favor of one class over another, as a result of historical events based on explicit class discrimination.

For example, property ownership and transfer in the US is a system premised on institutionalized discrimination. Explicitly racist laws and actions established a "property" system which handed control of economic and natural resources to white people, particularly white men; taking away control of those resources from Native Americans, people of African descent (as slaves), people of Chinese origin, and Latino populations in the US. Because "property" and wealth are transferred down family lines in the US and have a high degree of conservation, the effects of explicitly racist property and miscegenation laws into the 1960s continue to be experienced fifty years later.

Institutionalized sexism may be seen in the regular "professionalization" and "deprofessionalization" of various trades and professions. Throughout the twentieth century, when women entered a profession or trade in large numbers it became "deprofessionalized", its average salary dropped, and/or it developed internal classes of higher- and lower-grade members. So, for instance, elementary school teachers, which in the US are predominantly female, are lower prestige and lower-earning than high school teachers; and postsecondary education (college and graduate education) is dominated even more by men, is accordingly more prestigious, and makes more money. The same for sports. While "women's sports" and "men's sports" were legally the same in the US, in practice there was significant discrimination against women's sports, simply because "fans" weren't interested. However, when the US passed Title IX which explicitly addressed the historic discrimination and mandated equal treatment, women's sports showed significant development in the 80s and 90s, and developed fanbases.

Institutionalized discrimination should be distinguished from individual or even subconscious racism/sexism/discriminatory attitudes. It does not require that any person in the institution harbor racist attitudes. However, unwillingness to accept evidence of discriminatory outcomes or to address the institutional discrimination that causes discriminatory outcomes is strongly suggestive of at least subconscious discriminatory attitudes (and an unhealthy defensiveness and unwillingness to accept criticism).

See also white privilege and male privilege.

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