ABSTRACT
Racism, as an everyday occurrence, is observed in disparities in income, education, housing, employment, incarceration, and wealth, all of which evidence its deep entrenchment in American society. The Great Recession was just the most recent demonstration of racist institutional practices that have dramatically changed black family life on a national scale. Racism is maintained through a lack of understanding and reflection on how individual attitudes and beliefs translate into broader institutional practices. Discrimination is behavior that denies resources or rewards, that can be attained by others, to members of a particular group. Sociological studies have found that individuals and institutions may discriminate without being prejudiced. Stereotyping may be defined as thinking in terms of fixed and inflexible categories. Insulation would include lynching if “out group” members were seen stepping out of line. Each stage contributes to a strategy which actively enforces boundary maintenance and structural racism.
