Question

Do you think institutional discrimination occurs because people are purposely acting in a racially discriminatory manner? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Institutional Discrimination may or may not occur by virtue of people acting in a racially discriminatory manner. Lets understand this with an example. Consider a marketing company whose headquarters are located at new jersey, now the location being a white people dominated one, the emergence of a black individual into a team of pure whites may strike a difference among the rest, They might start maintaining difference from him due to mixed opinions and belief, and the black person too will be having his pre conceived notions about the whites, Most jobs and promotions which might appear in the future especially the better ones, might not be openly advertised. Knowledge of their existence would be limited to friends and colleagues of whites, and in turn their friends and associates. Since such patterns of association tend to be homogenous, knowledge of job opportunities rarely gets to the Black man. Even open advertisement may be limited in results if it is put in places of limited readership. To break these patterns, it is necessary not only to "open up" the recruitment process, but to actively seek members of previously excluded groups and work with their organizations to find competent applicants.

Now lets take an example where racially discrimination might not be the reason for institutional discrimination, Take the case of Chegg India, not too many students are aware of the job profile it provides. However for someone who is currently earning from it as a tutor might refrain from sharing its benefit in wake of losing his membership due to increased competition that may result from mass membership. Hence in this case, institutional discrimination is taking place without the assistance of racial discrimination.