Covert Racism - Racially Constructed Barriers

Racially Constructed Barriers

In the United States covert racism is used to construct barriers that disable and oppress a racial group. Some of these methods are covertly racial profiling and the use of racial stereotypes. In the 1950s after World War II, urban areas were overtly divided into blocks by race. The wide acceptance of these divisions by the majority and the lack of social integration was covert. These blocks were close to toxic dumps, busy highways, and other undesirable locations throughout cities. Whites lived away from these areas and often time Realtors would not be able to show properties to whites within these areas. Apartments also could not rent to certain minority groups henceforth maintaining segregation. Until the late 1960s, the government sanctioned discrimination in housing markets by promulgating rules preventing blacks from receiving mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Even today, FHA loans, a Federal Mortgage programme, goes to the white majority and reaches few minorities. In a study done in Syracuse, between 1996 and 2000, of the 2,169 FHA loans issued only 29 or 1.3 percent went to predominantly minority neighborhoods compared with 1,694 or 78.1 percent that went to white neighborhoods. Mortgage discrimination played a significant part in the real estate bubble that popped during the later part of 2008, it was found that minorities were disproportionately steered by lenders into subprime loans. In recent years many blacks and Latinos have been discriminated against when applying for jobs because of stereotypes about work ethic based on race. A phenomenon, in which, having a name that sounds "black" would mean the person not getting an interview. Minorities are less likely to obtain key information regarding job interviews and are often denied access to high-paying jobs.

Minorities are also denied access to a quality education, unlike whites in the U.S. This is usually because many poor areas are also predominantly minorities. This means lack of funding in schools. The levels of poverty and lack of educational opportunities perpetuate themselves creating an unbreakable cycle. Racial stereotypes emerge and these populations are further disenfranchised by individuals not helping or simply not caring. In the new Civil Rights Project report from UCLA, dated January 2009, it stated that schools are more segregated today than they have been in the 1950s. Millions of non-white students are locked into "dropout factory" high schools, where huge percentages do not graduate, and few are well prepared for college or a future in the US economy.

Prisons are another place where covert racism occurs. Prisons are filled with racial minorities due to the way the U.S. judicial system works and how police work on the street. Black men are more likely to be convicted and spend more time in prison than whites who did the same crimes. This could be perpetuated by the beliefs held by police on the street level who make split-second decisions, sometimes based on nothing more than subconscious racist stereotypes. Since the beating of Rodney King (1991), was videotaped and was broadcast around the world, Local and Federal law-enforcement agencies have opened investigations to determine whether indeed there is a pattern of police brutality, not only in Los Angeles but around the country.