Institutionalized Discrimination - Examples

Examples

Examples of institutionalized discrimination include laws and decisions that reflect racism, such as the Plessy vs. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court case, which ruled in favor of separate but equal public facilities between African Americans and non-African Americans. This ruling was struck down by the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Institutionalized discrimination often exists within the government, though it can also occur in any other type of social institution including religion, education and marriage. Achievement gaps in education per se are an example of institutionalized discrimination. Two recent studies aimed to explain the complications of assessing educational progress within the United States. While one study focused on high school graduation rates, the other compared dropout rates in suburban and urban schools. By taking a closer look at statistics of test scores and academic achievement, it can be noticed that wealthy whites do better than blacks, poor whites and Latinos. According to Star Parker, reporter of the Durham Herald Sun, graduation rates among whites and Asians are about 25 percent higher than those of minority groups (blacks, Hispanics, American Indians). This signifies that academic achievement is linked to socioeconomic status. There are also wage gaps between workers of different races. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found in 2007 that white, black and Hispanic men make 84%, 64% and 56% the wage of Asian men.