Description

The concept of structural racism is paramount in contemporary discourse on race. Claims such as "racism is a structural problem", "racism is a system of privilege and domination", and "structural racism explains anti-black police brutality" are now common currency in conversations about race. Those who employ the concept of structural racism regard it as a helpful tool for expanding the traditional lay understanding of racism as individual race-based prejudice and discrimination. The claim that racism is structural entails that a full-fledged understanding of this phenomenon ought to consider the role that institutions and social structures play in its reproduction.