Tyler Wack

Professor Smith

English 101-029

9 December 2016

Institutional Racism

Institutional racism is a problem in which social and political institutions negatively treat a group of people based on their race. These institutions can include government, schools, banks, etc. Both of the articles and the speech discussed in this essay have a main purpose of getting rid of institutional racism. In “Black Power”, Carmichael is giving a speech to a group of white college students about the oppressive nature of societal institutions. A big point that he discusses is the unfairness of the institutional systems during his time, such as the drafting system for the war in Vietnam. The article, “Tackling Institutional Racism”, discusses the problem of institutional racism in the London police. It also talks about getting rid of racism in institutions and that a plan of action should be put in place to help in eliminating institutional racism. The article, “On Eliminating Institutional Racism”, discusses the ongoing issue of institutional racism in schools and is based around the school systems in Dallas that are working towards the goal of eliminating institutional racism. This article really focuses on designing a plan of action on how to get rid of institutional racism in schools as well as showing the results of the plan after a couple years. Institutional racism is an issue that continues to be similar in Western societies, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, since Carmichael’s time and is still relevant in different institutions, such as schools and law enforcement. The way that Carmichael, Collier, and Estes look at institutional racism is similar in that they see institutional racism as a systemic problem, but the way that they deal with it differs in the kind of action taken to fix the problem.

The way that Carmichael, Collier, and Estes look at institutional racism is similar in that they see institutional racism as a systemic problem. All three of the writers state that the problem comes from inside the institution. They believe that institutional racism is due to problems in the overall system, rather than just an individual. The leaders of the institutions believe that they are in the right because that is what they have been taught. All three want to get rid of institutional racism, but you must recognize it first. The main points of each article are about recognizing institutional racism and then fighting it. “…Carmichael also emphasizes that ending oppression necessitates recognizing - and fighting to change - the inherently oppressive nature of societal institutions” (Carmichael 313). The people in charge causing the institutional racism do not see the problem in what they are doing. Recognition of the problem is the first major step in the fight against institutional racism. Recognizing institutional racism is a big part in “Tackling Institutional racism”. Collier discusses that, “Those who run racist institutions are powerful, unyielding, often ruthless” (Collier 679). The people with power are so often blinded to what they are doing to others and do not see the world around them. The blindness of the people causing the institutional racism does not allow them to see how it affects the people that they discriminate against. The people that participate in institutional racism are incapable of seeing what they are doing is wrong. Carmichael states that, “It is incapability of whites to deal with their own problems inside their own communities” (Carmichael 315). What Carmichael is saying is that whites are not able to fix their own problems and it affects their community as a whole. Just like the whites being blind to institutional racism, they do not see the problem which affects the rest of the community around them. Sometimes, it is not even that people have power and are blind to the problems, but they just do not know what it is. Estes states that, “They didn’t know what it was – at least they didn’t know what I meant – but they knew it sounded bad” (Estes 302). The people need to be taught about institutional racism and see the effect of it so that they can change. The people recognize the problem and the harm it causes and then they can fight to eliminate it.

Although, the way that they deal with institutional racism differs in the kind of action they take to fix the problem. As stated earlier in this essay the main problem of institutional racism comes from inside the institution. Collier and Estes feel differently from Carmichael on how institutional racism should be fixed in the institutions. The big difference is Carmichael thinks the institutions should be dismantled and be rebuilt from the ground up, whereas Estes and Collier think that institutions should fix themselves. The significance of this difference is how they end. Carmichael wants to completely destroy and get rid of institutions and start at the beginning which could be difficult having to rebuild and setup everything. Collier and Estes think a lot simpler in that they just want to make changes to some of the mechanisms of institutions to help solve the problem. A big part in the difference is the time it takes to implement these changes. Carmichael wants to stop it immediately, whereas Collier and Estes set their plan over a time period. With Carmichaels plan, he could mean for a complete government overthrow and start from the beginning. Carmichael is seen as more violent because he is aggressive and eager towards getting rid of institutional racism. He wants to be peaceful in the way he goes about dealing with institutional racism, but he will result to violence if it necessary and the only way. Carmichael states that, “It is sometimes ironic that many of the peace groups have beginning to call us violent and say they can no longer support us, and we are in fact the most militant organization [for] peace or civil rights or human rights against the war in Vietnam in this country today” (Carmichael 319-320). This is because they are so against the war and the draft that they become very overpowering and appear violent. Carmichael wants to eliminate institutional racism as soon as possible so he will not wait to come up with a plan that takes time. He wants to take action now by destroying and rebuilding institutions which makes him look violent. However, Collier and Estes show in their articles that they go about fixing institutional racism in a more peaceful way and create a plan of action to follow to eliminate it over a period of time. They set up a plan of action so that the institutions can use them to fix themselves from the inside out. In the article, “On Eliminating Institutional Racism”, Nolan Estes discusses the decision of the Dallas school system to set up a plan to get rid of institutional racism. Estes states, “Specifically, the order said, ‘The district is to remedy racial discrimination in the following respects: 1) in initiating institutional and structural changes, 2) in the training of teachers and counselors, 3) in training students to deal with institutional racism, and 4) in becoming active in terms of their community or their environment in attempting to push programs of affirmative action’” (Estes 302). The plan of action was very detailed on how they planned to eliminate institutional racism. The heads of the district had to come to terms with several major issues when creating the plan. After several years, the article states that institutional racism was not completely eliminated but there has been a lot of progress. This result shows that this form to eliminating institutional racism works. Even though coming up with a plan of action and put it into place is time consuming, it does work and helps resolve some of the problems with institutional racism. The process is painful and slow, but you need to give it a try. Collier discusses the institutional racism in the London police and supports the idea of putting in a plan of action to help eliminate institutional racism. He says that, “Institutional racism must be stamped out, but leaving it to individuals is not to be recommended. Mechanisms must be put in place to make the change corporate” (Collier 679). A plan must be put into action, but it should not be left to the individuals themselves. It should be something the company does as a whole. This goes back to the whole idea of institutions fixing themselves. These changes in the company can help lead to eliminating institutional racism. In the end, the main goal is to eliminate institutional racism, but each person has a different way of doing it. 

Institutional racism is an issue that continues to be similar in Western societies since Carmichael’s time and is still relevant in different institutions, such as schools and law enforcement. The way that Carmichael, Collier, and Estes look at institutional racism is similar in that they see institutional racism is a systemic problem, but the way that they deal with it differs in the kind of action taken to fix the problem. Carmichael, Collier, and Estes feel that the problem comes from inside the institutions. However, Carmichael feels a more aggressive approach to eliminate institutional racism should be taken. He wants to do this by destroying institutions and rebuilding them from the ground up. This is more violent and pushes people away. Collier and Estes want the institutions to fix themselves by creating a plan of action. It’s a painful and slow process, but it does show progress because people are more open to the idea. 

Works Cited

Carmichael, Stokely. “Black Power.” The Carolina Reader for English 101, edited by BenHarley and Nicole Fisk. Hayden-McNeil, LLC, 2016, pp. 313-326.

Collier, Joe. “Tackling Institutional Racism.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 318, no. 7184,1999, pp. 679. http://www.jstor.org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/stable/25183954.

Estes, Nolan. “On Eliminating Institutional Racism.” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 60, no. 4,1978, pp. 302–303. http://www.jstor.org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/stable/20299347.