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Racism: Systemic or Systematic?
Is Racism Systemic or Systematic?
Society is a compilation of societal systems. These societal systems are composed of a number of social institutions that help society meets its basic needs. The social institutions that exist in a society are the following: Family, Religion, Education, Economy, Medicine, Politics, Law, Science, Military, Mass Media. The aggregation of these social institutions form our societal system, or more famously referred to as “The System”.
The System is a tool in-itself; it is neither good nor bad, but neutral. It is in the usage of this tool that we judge actions and outcomes as good or bad. That said, the System is not the problem, but the racist individuals who use the social institutions as tools to carry out their prejudice and bigotry.
As such, Racism exists! However, the United States’ societal system is not racist — neither systemically nor systematically.
Systemic Racism
Systemic is defined as affecting the whole and not the parts; system-wide. As such, Systemic Racism is prejudice and discrimination that is based solely on race and occurs in and affects the whole societal system of a nation. If a person makes the claim that Racism is systemic, then the person would have to prove that each and every social institution…