About Institutional Discrimination

According to Phillips (2011), institutional discrimination occurs when a society and all of its institutions treat a person or group of people unfairly and discriminatorily through bias or unfair selection. Police brutality toward African Americans is a frequent instance of systemic discrimination. Investigations reveal that the police mostly treat African Americans differently due to their color (Phillips, 2011). Due to the perception that African American men are aggressive and violent, the police likewise discriminate more against black males. It is challenging to achieve racial equality between whites and blacks because of the unfairness the black population experiences at the hands of the police.

The black community is the target of institutionalized prejudice by the police. The police for example, harass persons of African origin when they engage in law breaking activities such as over speeding and illegal demonstration (Gattiker & Larwood, 1984). Apart from the direct forms of discrimination, blacks face indirect forms of prejudice by the police majorly through the denial of opportunity to join the forces. The result of discrimination during recruitment is that more whites get the opportunity to join the forces while African Americans have to seek alternatives. The discrimination black Americans face is institutionalized because the injustice emanates from a single group or institution which is the police force.

The prime reason for the existence of the institutionalized discrimination blacks face from the police is that whites have the perception that their race is dominant over the black community’s race. Gattiker & Larwood (1984) write that even though instances of racism have gone down over the years, blacks are still at the threat of facing forms of discrimination by the police. The report by Gattiker & Larwood (1984) reveals that the police arrest more blacks under unclear circumstances compared to the rate at which law enforcers apprehend white Americans. The police need to undergo through a series of training that informs them to consider both populations (white and black) as being equal.

References

Gattiker, E, & Larwood, L. (1984). Perspectives on institutional discrimination and resistance to

change. Group and Organization Management, 9(3), 44-65.

Phillips, C. (2011). Institutional racism and ethnic inequalities: An expanded multi-level

framework. Journal of Social Policy, 40(1), 173-192.