SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION
Contributor: Leah Verma
Date Last Updated: 16 July, 2020
Introduction
2020 so far has taught many of us valuable lessons. Understanding inequalities that many people face is one of them. Specifically through the voice of the powerful Black Lives Matter, we have come to an awareness that there are issues larger than a division of opinions. Globally, individuals of all minorities, sexualities, genders, religions, ages, etc are now better realising that there are systemic advantages and disadvantages of being a certain type of individual. History is still very present today, ideas and actions from the past still impact us. They are ingrained in the system of society. Understanding what exactly “systemic discrimination” means and where it came from originally is very important to solving the issue.
What Is Discrimination As A Universal Term?
Discrimination, as a universal term is used to describe the unjust and prejudicial treatment of different types of individuals. The most common grounds of discrimination are sex, religion, race, age and occupation.
What Is The Main Difference Between The Terms Systemic and Systematic?
To generalise, both words have the term ‘system’. The term systemic is derived from the Greek word, “Systema”. This word simply means a whole made up of several aspects or parts.
Systematic is used to refer to a methodical or calculated way of achieving something. When something is done systematically, there is usually a plan that it follows through with, for example, carrying out a plan to clean the house. A synonym for this type of discrimination is the term institutional.
Systemic, however, refers to an ingrained or structural way something occurs. A natural example of this word, is when a virus attacks the entire immune system, for example cancer. It is essentially ingrained after it is present.
What About Racism? Can The Terms ‘Discrimination’ And ‘Racism’ Be Used Interchangibly?
Think of discrimination as an umbrella for all the ways that one can be treated poorly due to many, commonly unchangeable, situations (race, sex, etc). Racism is a term for one of the many ways discrimination occurs. Hence, the terms should not be used to describe the other, they should not be used interchangeably.
In an instance regarding the Canadian Police Chief, after many months of denying systemic racism in the policing system in Canada, Brenda Lucki was placed in a parliamentary seat to be asked about it. However, when asked about systemic racism specifically, she failed to give the proper answer as she discussed an advantage of having a taller height.
In cases such as that, it is important to know the difference between discrimination and racism. Hence, they are two separate terms with discrimination being the umbrella term.
How Did Systemic Discrimination Start?
To answer this question, one must look into several factors, particularly the psychology of human beings, as well as factors of oppression such as colonisation. There is no specific date to which the first act of systemic discrimination occurred globally.
Psychology / Evolution
Some might argue that the first and most primitive form of hatred for other types may have occurred due to the simple yet complex idea of “survival of the fittest”. In order to be the greatest one living organism, it must beat all competition. Hence, the constant idea of being ‘superior’ depending on whatever one associates the most the with is something so primitive, but it may be one of the original root causes of discrimination. This resulted in today’s large systemic discrimination issue, due to the fact that living organisms have always seen two sides - inferior and superior - in order to know their place to survive. However, we can also argue that due to the fact that humans are much more intelligent than other animals, discrimination is simply the lack of self-esteem in certain areas, causing those with a lack of it, to inflict pain on others. The vicious cycle continues with parenting and ideologies passed down, eventually creating a systemic pattern of discrimination.
Factors of Oppression
Oppression over the decades has played one of the largest roles as to why systemic discrimination exists today. If we look at racism today and the example of European expansion and colonisation in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas, there are common traits that have still not disappeared. It was believed that one race was always superior to the other race. Laws set in place by the colonists as well as aggressive actions taken made it very difficult, almost impossible to escape this cycle. Thinking about this in another way, one may reflect back to the economic term - ‘vicious cycle of poverty’. Due to a lack of change in societal thinking, opportunities due to a lack of education, it usually leads the individual to pursue desperate actions such as stealing/other crimes to make a living, or it can also lead to alcoholism, drug usage, etc. Due to the fact that nothing drastic has changed, parenting styles adapt to these unfortunate and painful circumstances, to usually the best of their ability. But, due to the ‘system’, they are unable to make a much better life than their own parents. This leads to a vicious cycle. For example, Black and Latino people are less likely to get a housing loan in America than their White counterparts. Hence, oppression has persisted through the decades. Moreover, looking at another example of gender inequality. The suffragettes in the United Kingdom made some great advances for women, including being able to vote and make decisions. This eventually led the UK Parliament to launch the Equal Pay Act of the 1970s. However, due to the numerous years that men made more than women, the majority of the actual high power decision-makers were men. It also did not take into account that women generally become the primary caregivers if individuals choose to start a family. The maternity leave, as well as the actual raising of a child, was not taken into account, neither the fact that the majority of single parents are mothers. Today, globally, there are still more men in high power positions, including Parliaments all over. Hence, oppression throughout history has created opinions, laws better suited for some than others as well as overall disadvantages for minorities in specific fields, cities and countries.
Hence, there is no official start to it. But, we can predict that the two main causes are psychology (survival of the fittest) and oppression through history leading to a vicious cycle.
How Large Is The Issue Of Systemic Discrimination? What Are Some Examples
While discrimination in some countries is more covertly present than in others, systemic discrimination is an issue that impacts every country around the world.
Some Examples of Systemic Discrimination To Check Out From This Website:
So All In All, What Is The Definition of Systemic Discrimination?
Systemic discrimination has several definitions depending on what country the individual resides in. There is no one official definition. Listed below are two of the most commonly used ones.
However, in terms of industry wise, the EEOC of the United States Government considers it to “involve a pattern or practice, policy, or class case where the alleged discrimination has a broad impact on an industry”.
The OHRC of Canada’s Government holistically defines it as, “systemic discrimination can be described as patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate disadvantage for racialized persons”.
Conclusion
Systemic Discrimination is still present in every society globally today, there is no denying that, while some forms may be lesser or more covert than others, it is present. Understanding the holistic picture of where it originates from, as well as how to correctly address different situations pertaining to it, is vital if any constructive change in the world is to be made.