Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, 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.
Source: Institutional racism - Wikipedia

For Debate:

Does systemic racism exists in the United States?
 
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In my view, systemic racism no longer exists in the United States but rather isolated incidents of racism still exist. Some that believe systemic racism exists usually support their point by showing the racial disparities in our justice system, educational system, health care system, etc.

Here are two big reasons why I don't accept that systemic racism exists any more:
- Those that see systemic racism are often too quick to jump to race. When people do this they fail to distinguish if some factor (e.g. race) is a cause or if it's just correlation, or incidental, or secondary. This point of mine can be applied so all of the examples of systemic racism that people tend to bring up. For instance, take police shootings of Blacks. Is it a frequent occurrence because of race or is it being done because resisting the police, and Blacks just happen to resist more than any other race, on average?

Let's also consider the justice system. In our justice system, do Blacks go to jail more because of racism or is it because they can't afford good attorneys? If the latter then the problem is classism and not racism.

- There are too many examples of Blacks and other minorities becoming successful throughout many different areas of life. If systemic racism exists then minorities could not become successful.
 
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If systemic racism exists in the US today, I would expect to see the oppressed never succeed. I don't see that nowadays since I see plenty minorities succeeding in life or having the opportunities to succeed. As I brought up before, we do have instances of racism and even the leftover effects from a systemic racist past, but I think those effects will die out as more and more minorities become successful, and pass that on to the newer generations.

We already have instances of minorities, particularly Blacks and Hispanics, having kids who never grew up in poverty. That's a huge improvement where in times past we would've expected for all minorities to have a poor upbringing or come from the "ghetto". This trend will only increase as we create equal opportunities for success.
 
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For instance, take police shootings of Blacks. Is it a frequent occurrence because of race or is it being done because resisting the police, and Blacks just happen to resist more than any other race, on average?

Too high a standard. You seem to be asking for 100% proof, which in a social studies type of question, we’re very unlikely to get.

Whereas, if we get 80% probability, we’re probably doing pretty well. That would be true for a seasoned poker player, a seasoned political, or a seasoned emergency room physician.

My guess would be that African-American persons do better than average in police encounters, because it’s something black citizens talk about and think about more. Often, their parents even talk about it with them.

============

(for me as a white guy, one time when I was adult, my Dad said always keep you hands at the top of the steering wheel.

(we had been stopped by a police officer when taking the older father of a family friend home

(my Dad meant well, but I’m going to count this advice as too little, too late)
 
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If systemic racism exists in the US today, I would expect to see the oppressed never succeed.

But some African-Americans succeeded even in 1910 when we clearly had systemic racism (although Woodrow Wilson would soon make it worse).

To me, it’s entirely possible that we could have stupid and unnecessary obstacles, and some persons who are members of a minority might still make it.
 
Too high a standard. You seem to be asking for 100% proof, which in a social studies type of question, we’re very unlikely to get.

Whereas, if we get 80% probability, we’re probably doing pretty well. That would be true for a seasoned poker player, a seasoned political, or a seasoned emergency room physician.
This is a good point to keep in mind. My example about Blacks and deadly police encounters was more about correlation vs. causation.

But some African-Americans succeeded even in 1910 when we clearly had systemic racism (although Woodrow Wilson would soon make it worse).

To me, it’s entirely possible that we could have stupid and unnecessary obstacles, and some persons who are members of a minority might still make it.
I put that in the category of being a fluke. However, Blacks succeeding today I put in the category of a norm or becoming one, at least. And I say this believing that there are probably racist institutions in existence today but I wouldn't call it systemic because it is not nation-wide.
 
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To me, mass incarceration is big, bad thing which other countries did not experience.

I’d say we have too many white citizens in prison. We certainly have too many African-American citizens in prison or on parole.

And I think they’ve done studies that at every step of the way, who’s more likely to get arrested, indicted if arrested, length of sentence if convicted, and your odds are worse if you’re a black person.

Yes, there’s also class and income level as you point out. But I still think there’s a big dollop of racism.

———-


However, if I’m an African-American person myself, or a teacher with many of my students being black, defeatism is no way to play the poker hand. I kind of need to assume the system is fair enough.
 
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Yes, there’s also class and income level as you point out. But I still think there’s a big dollop of racism.
I can accept that race plays a role. It would likely happen more in jurisdictions that have all or mostly Caucasians in power. I would hope that the disparity between the treatment of races is not as bad in more diverse jurisdictions or ones where the majority are African-American, like say, in Atlanta.
 
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Does systemic racism exists in the United States?
Yes. Immigration. Black immigrants fleeing their poor countries are shipped right back to their country. Meanwhile, we are open arms to European immigrants. I am even more angry it happens even under the Biden administration.

Wilfred Tebah doesn’t begrudge the U.S. for swiftly granting humanitarian protections to Ukrainians escaping Russia’s devastating invasion of their homeland.

But the 27-year-old, who fled Cameroon during its ongoing conflict, can’t help but wonder what would happen if the millions fleeing that Eastern Europe nation were a different hue.

As the U.S. prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war, the country continues to deport scores of African and Caribbean refugees back to unstable and violent homelands where they’ve faced rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses.

“There is every reason to extend the same level of compassion,” U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, and Mondaire Jones, of New York, wrote to the administration, noting more than 20,000 Haitians have been deported despite continued instability after the assassination of Haiti’s president and a powerful earthquake this summer.

Cameroonian advocates have similarly ratcheted up their calls for humanitarian relief, protesting in front of the Washington residence of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the offices of leading members of Congress this month.

Their calls come as hundreds of thousands in Cameroon have been displaced in recent years by the country’s civil war between its French-speaking government and English-speaking separatists, attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram and other regional conflicts.

Thank you to Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley for speaking out on this issue.
 
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I agree with you Mr. Johnson. The treatment appears different and I remember the story about the Haitian immigrants under a Texas bridge. Ironically, only Fox News reported on it at first while the Biden administration wanted to keep quiet.

Here are some interesting facts:
The body of law governing U.S. immigration policy is called the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA allows the United States to grant up to 675,000 permanent immigrant visas each year across various visa categories. On top of those 675,000 visas, the INA sets no limit on the annual admission of U.S. citizens’ spouses, parents, and children under the age of 21. In addition, each year the president is required to consult with Congress and set an annual number of refugees to be admitted to the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Once a person obtains an immigrant visa and comes to the United States, they become a lawful permanent resident (LPR). In some circumstances, noncitizens already inside the United States can obtain LPR status through a process known as “adjustment of status.”
Source: American Immigration Council

And another source from a law firm, The Visa Firm...
There is a per-country limit on the number of visas that can be issued because the U.S. does not want to have an inordinate amount of immigrants coming from any one particular country. No more than seven percent of total visas may be issued to any one country in a fiscal year, but that doesn’t mean that one country is entitled to that seven percent. Instead, it means that no country can receive more than seven percent of all the visas issued. For that reason, countries like Mexico, India, China and the Philippines can have a much longer wait time than other places. Like all other countries, they are limited to seven percent of the total visas being issued, but they have so many more applicants who are applying for the spots. With this in mind, it is important that those seeking a visa for themselves or a family member consult with a DC immigration attorney to discuss what steps they can take and the process involved.
[emphasis added]

It does seem that each country has a quota in terms of how many visas each country can receive. So at least on paper, the process appears fair but like in the case of the Haitian immigrants, I'm not sure what the difference was there. I'm not an expert on immigration law by any means.

If you have any evidence of African or predominant Black countries receiving less visas than other countries then please post that here.