Institutional racism is that which, covertly or overtly, resides in the policies, procedures, operations and culture of public or private institutions – reinforcing individual prejudices and being reinforced by them in turn.
Why do we need to distinguish institutional racism from individual racism?
The problem is that individual racial attitudes and stereotyping have often been over-emphasised to the point where the institutional level of racism is ignored. This view was encapsulated in the 1981 Scarman Report on Brixton’s riots which took the view that a few ‘rotten apples’ in the police had racist attitudes, but the majority did not. Racial awareness training has been seen as the answer, backed up with attempts to recruit more black officers. Condon has now decided that to accept institutional racism in the Met is to accuse all his officers of being racists. That is not what is meant by the term.
How is racism institutionalised in today’s police forces?
Institutional racism is shown in the clear patterns of differential policing meted out on a systematic basis against black people. The whole criminal justice system then compounds those racist patterns. Black events, black areas, black meeting places are targeted for special policing. Black people are four to five times more likely to be stopped and searched. In the last ten years, 35 black people have died in police custody in suspicious circumstances. And, when black people complain of abrogation of their rights, the whole criminal justice system – from the Police Complaints Authority and the Crown Prosecution Service to the judiciary – compounds the racism by closing ranks. No one gets found guilty of racism, no one gets suspended or punished and charges are never brought following a violent death in custody. All of these practices point to an institutional culture of racism – nurtured in the top ranks, spread through the canteen culture and reinforced in the unhealthily close relationship between police press officers and the yellow press. As a result, black people are rarely seen as victims of crime, which in turn means that racial violence is never taken seriously enough.
What i first thought when i read this article was that this was alot of Anarchist crap. I read it again and again to see if i was just being cinical, but i wasn’t. Arguing about if he should have been allowed to enter our country is stupid. Almost as stupid as being an enviromentalist. Seeing the United States being called “impeirialists” and “criminal” angers me to the point were i felt it warrented a comment. If he wanted to live in the US he should have gone through the legal process.
http://www.onehumanrace.com Science working with God 🙂 you’ll be in for some good reading, get the free booklet…
Jesus is the only way, truth and life without him we cant get to the father he loves you he’s waiting for you to come to him.
amen. the only way and the truth. through him there is eternal life.
Antonio Gramsci: Hegemony – The various arms of the state: ensuring status quo of control. Police are only an arm of the state. They are a tool of organised systemic control that is for the most part portrayed as ‘trust worthy’. When it is not, other uses of state will be used to again retain control under all even if these are racist acts.
They get away everyday, as its deeply embedded in or society. Stand up against this B S
I have experienced institutional racist abuse in England from 1997 to 2024 which has completely destroyed my career and life. The Metropolitan Police Service claims my nephew impersonated my name and dye of birth to commit crime between 1997 and 1999; and despite cleared of this criminality by FOUR police fingerprint checks, the police uses my nephew’s criminal record with information markers to process my Enhanced Disclosure to employers and third parties, which can take between 17 weeks or more to process my criminal records. Yes. 17 weeks or more for someone who has never committed a crime. I have tried everything to remove my records from my relatives criminal records in accordance with Data Protection Acts but it’s never worked due to institutional abusive legal processes of police, civil justice process and therefore denied jobs. I have suffered needlessly for so long and impoverished by this. I can’t travel outside England as my personal details on the Police National Computer is merged with someone’s records and confuses Embassy staff who use the PNC. I have NEVER committed any crime in my life but police takes so long to process my data and lose jobs. I have suffered so much from this long standing deliberate institutional racist abuse