Anti-racism Resources

Systemic Racism (also called structural or institutional racism) - racism that exists across a society within, and  between institutions/organizations across society

• Refers to the complex interactions of large scale societal systems, practices, ideologies, and programs that produce and and perpetuate inequities for racial minorities. The key aspect of structural or systematic racism is that these macro-level mechanisms operate independent of the intentions and actions of individuals, so that even if individual racism is not present, the adverse conditions and inequalities for racial minorities will continue to exist (Gee & Ford, 2011).
• Examples: housing discrimination, government surveillance, social segregation, racial profiling, predatory banking, access to healthcare, hiring/promotion practices, mandatory minimum sentences

Additional Readings:

• Business Insider: 26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren't convinced racism is still a problem in America 
• NPR: What Systemic Racism Means And The Way It Harms Communities  
• Reuters: The Race Gap: How U.S. systemic racism plays out in Black lives

Interpersonal Racism (also called individual racism or personally mediated racism) - occurs between individuals, and is what most people think of when using the term racism.

• The beliefs, attitudes, and actions of individual that support or perpetuate racism. Individual racism can occur at both an unconscious and conscious level, and can be both active and passive (Wijeysinghe, Griffin, & Love, 1997)
• Individual racism refers to an individual's racist assumptions, beliefs or behaviours and is "a form of racial discrimination that stems from conscious and  unconscious, personal prejudice" (Henry & Tator, 2006)
• This form of racism can be intentional or unintentional, examples include telling a racist joke, believing in the inherent superiority of white people, crossing the street to avoid passing a Black man, etc.