
In today’s society, the general populations focus on racism that surface in the news. However, the reports on the race-based physical violence make up only the thinnest layer of racism shown to the public. Throughout history in America, there has been a deeper and darker side of racism that resides within the institutions of America. This side is well hidden from the eyes of Americans. Therefore, to really find the embedded racism, we must look at studies of racism in American institutions. Health care institutions in America have implemented an unconscious form of racism within the system. The studies will examine the Black Panther Party’s creation of the party’s own health institutions to provide for the minorities, the traditional health clinic’s lack of treatment of minorities, and Carmichael’s speech Black Power in response to institutional racism. 

During the early 1960s, racism was at an all-time high. Most law enforcement institutions established a hatred for African Americans and minorities. To counter the prevailing racism, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale started The Black Panther Party in Oakland, California. The party follows Carmichael's speech, which states, “Blacks must organize to fight for their liberation independent of whites” (Carmichael). The party’s intentions were to protect African Americans from the brutality of law enforcement. The party turned out to be a huge success as the party grew throughout the years. The public viewed the party as an effort of self-defense against white Americans. Not only was the party a stance against white supremacy and brutality, health clinics soon rose up in an effort to offer free medical care for the oppressed. The health clinics were derived from what is called the Ten-Point program. The Ten-Point program was an establishment of the ideal way to run the party. This establishment provided a concrete structure for how the party would function. 

The health clinics, called People’s Free Medical Centers (PFMC), were a self-sufficient model against the racially discriminative medical institution. The health clinics spread rapidly throughout the country. The clinics were usually located in storefronts, trailers, or unstable structures. Within these health clinics, simple tests were administered from testing for high blood pressure to more advanced care such as testing for sickle cell anemia, commonly found in African Americans. The workers in these clinics would later advance into the medical field.  The minorities wanted to prove to the government that health is a right for everyone and should not be only for the privileged class. The program was found to be a success in recognizing that everyone has the right to medical care. 

America’s healthcare is a frequent victim of institutional racism. Studies examine the history and statistics. The minority race is at a disadvantage both biologically and socially. Racial discrimination has had an effect on health, employment, social security, and prosperity of minorities. Even if health institutions are proven to be racist, it is nearly impossible for minorities to change the policies. These health policies are built up over time by the majority race. Moreover, these institutions are staffed mostly by white Americans, the majority race. Having staff that is mostly from the majority race creates a tension of treating the minorities differently than the majority in terms of receiving medical care.

Studies have found a detrimental gap between black Americans receiving less health care than white Americans, particularly when using expensive technologies. According to Carmichael’s speech the reason for the gap is based on the color of the skin, “Now it is clear that when this country started to move in terms of slavery, the reason for a man being picked as a slave was one reason because of the color of his skin… We are oppressed because we are black” (Carmichael). To prove this point, there was a recorded study done since 1984 on heart disease. These studies were designed to show that racism was a factor. However, the research completed showed lack of information. The study done was purely based on quantity, but not quality. Therefore, it was not an accurate way of undermining racism in the institution, because it was not looking at how African American patients were treated. The study recorded the amount of African Americans being treated rather than how they were treated. On a different case there was a study that African American life expectancy was 7.1 years less than White Americans. The causation of these deaths are because of the difference in affordability of medical care. Raj Bhopal a professor states the inequality treatment, “Health services may offer a worse service to minority groups because staff treat patients unequally on account of their race or ethnicity, policies are based on the needs of the racial/ethnic majority, and specialist resources required to meet the needs of minority groups do not exist” (Bhopal). This study shows the problem of how health care was affecting minorities based on the skin color. Institutional racism is happening throughout different types of institutions and not just in health care. 

In the passage of Black Power, Stokely is an immigrant from Trinidad. He is the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who later became an honorary Prime Minister of the Black Panther Party. He had first-hand experience with racial discrimination. He transitions from nonviolent integrationist politics to  politics of Black Power. To free themselves from the Whites, African Americans must fight as a group to gain independence. He coined the term “Black Power” and emphasized the term throughout his speech. Carmichael mention the meaning of Black Power, “Now we are now engaged in a psychological struggle in this country.. They ought to start defending themselves as to why they have oppressed and exploited us” (Carmichael). The speech was also an effort to stop Black people from being arrested for nonviolent crimes. The speech was effective because the audience was mainly white college students at Berkeley University.  The civil rights bill was passed for not just whites, but blacks. Stokely wants discriminations in institutions to be put to an end. 

Racism in institutions is difficult to solve because it is hard to differentiate what is racist or not. We can examine many studies to see if racism is happening in these institutions in America; however, the people’s point of view of racial discrimination varies between people. Therefore, there is no answer to solving todays racism in these institutions. Questions start to arise if whether the people should act upon creating change to these institutions or finding out what exactly is racism. Researchers may think that we have enough information to put a change in these institutions. Other researchers think different, saying we should emphasize more on researching what is causing racial discrimination in these institutions. The studies of the Black Panther Party, medical institutions and speeches are crucial evidence to ending institutional racism. 
