Systemic racism

Systemic is a term used to describe something that affects something overall (a system), rather than in just one small area.

Systemic racism describes racism that isn’t about one individual or group’s racist actions, but instead describes racism that is embedded into society’s systems and structures. The way these systems are fundamentally set up harms racial minorities and marginalized communities, even without taking into account the actions of racist individuals within the system.

For example, systemic racism is a structural issue in public institutions like policing and the legal system, and in political and government institutions, as well as the advertising, design, and technology industries.

Systemic racism is present in systems all over the world, and it takes conscious, intentional, anti-racist work by governments, societies, businesses, and other organizations to dismantle these unjust systems.