I know we’ve talked about this a few times, but I thought we should actually have the conversation all the way through. This year has seen a significant increase in protests against racism in various forms. So here’s my question for you: do you believe that systemic racism exists in America?
No I don’t believe it exists. There are racists, sure. The KKK, neo-Nazis, etc. But most of America isn’t racist anymore. And “systemic” racism, whatever that is, doesn’t exist.
Well, first of all, let’s define systemic racism so we can be talking about the same thing. According to Wikipedia, it’s “a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization.” Derrick Johnson, the current president of the NAACP, clarifies it even further: systemic racism is the collection of “systems and structures that have procedures or processes that disadvantage African Americans.”