We live under white racism in the United States. Racism is built into our society’s systems and institutions. White people hold the economic, political, and social power by controlling and owning the major systems and the vast majority of institutions that make up American society. As a result, white people are in the position to determine how power, wealth, resources, goods, and services are distributed to all of America’s citizens. Historically, white people created these systems and institutions (for example, the education system and schools) to serve themselves and to keep out people of color.
Racism is many things. It is a system of domination and exploitation based on the idea of race. Racism has been around a long time and is alive and well today. It is perhaps the single most influential social force shaping American life. It is woven into the economic, political, and social fabric of our country. Here’s a simple way to define racism: prejudice plus power. Institutions such as schools and child care centers have the collective power to enact and perpetuate racial prejudice in ways both overt and so subtle that often the people involved in these institutions don’t even recognize what’s happening.