Theological Journal – July 17 How else does this definition relate to systemic racism?

Again, we need to clarify our terms. “Systemic racism” merely refers to the policies and normative practices that create or perpetuate discrimination or prejudice against people on the basis of race. Such “systems” are carried out by people. People establish or defend such policies. It is people who accept racist norms, which consciously or unconsciously.

Before we get to the starting line

Here’s an analogy that I found helpful (though I can’t recall where I heard it).

Imagine two black men are allowed to enter an Olympic race, which also includes white runners. However, due to various discriminatory practices in the past, the black runners do not receive the same coaching, training, and nutrition as the white runners, who have received years of professional coaching and hours of rigorous training.

What will happen when they finally start their race? On the surface, the rules of the race equally apply to all runners. They all must run the same distance and start when the gun fires. However, past inequalities (i.e., decades and centuries of discrimination) have left the black runners ill-equipped to contend seriously for the gold medal.

This analogy intends to highlight the ways that racism is built into the social order. Changing individuals’ hearts today does not mean that everything is equal for blacks as for whites.

Two scenarios are will occur when we recognize the existence of unconscious discrimination or prejudice against a race. On the one hand, a person might not knowingly do something that is, in fact, racist simply because they do not realize their biases. This phenomenon is characteristic of “colorblind racism.”

On the other hand, a person might oppose a policy that some judge as racist but does so without any unconscious attempt to discriminate against a certain race. That person might simply disagree with others about the best way to foster justice in society.

In any case, when we include unconscious bias against people based on race, we are better equipped to undo systems that created racial inequality. Furthermore, this altered definition accounts for implicit prejudice yet without confusing power as inherently bad nor collapsing purpose and result.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jacksonwu/2020/07/14/we-need-a-better-definition-of-racism/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=BRSS&utm_campaign=Evangelical&utm_content=267