Free Market Institute Blog
Some Thoughts on Systemic Racism
Is there “systemic racism” in the United States?
Of course.
Of course not.
Which one of these is true very much depends on definitions; I often tell students that many disagreements are both amplified and obfuscated over differing definitions. We should try to avoid trigger words in general. In this case, it’s mostly over the understanding of the word “systemic.”
What does systemic mean? What sort of systems are we talking about?
Non-governmental “systems” are voluntary, so it’s much easier to opt out of these; you might not be welcome at my “All Dutch” party (you’d have to pay your way anyway) and I may not be welcome at your “Irish Dancing Celebration,” especially if you’ve seen me dance. Perhaps that’s not that big of a deal, until you are chased out of a whites-only restaurant in Georgia in the 1960s by its proprietor, an ax-wielding future governor Lester Maddox.
When people use the word “systemic,” they generally should think of political or governmental systems—laws, not customs. Apartheid in South Africa was a government-enforced racist system. Jim Crow laws were (typically state) government-enforced racist systems. Ditto for slavery. We all agree these are morally repugnant, and we all agree they don’t exist in America today.
But do other racist government systems exist in the US today?
My view is that we do have systems that disproportionately harm lower income people, many of whom are people of color. But does that make the “system” racist? I think not. But that doesn’t mean that the systems should remain in place.
I could easily list half a dozen of these systems:
—A state-run school system that allocates education slots by zip code and minimizes parental choice.
—A wide and increasing array of licensing systems that hurt poor entrants into skilled jobs.
—A zoning and regulation system that increases home prices, pricing poor people out of the real estate market.
—Health care supply restrictions and tax incentives that make inexpensive medical care difficult to provide.
—A war on drugs that disproportionally targets the underclass, coupled with qualified immunity for police.
—National and state minimum wage laws that hurt poor people and primarily help wealthier unions and middle class teens.
Let’s take the minimum wage laws, which clearly price lower-skilled people, often young people or people of color, out of entry-level jobs. This vicious system has drastically increased black and Hispanic unemployment rates. Keep in mind two facts: before minimum wages existed, there was little difference in those unemployment rates, and early proponents of minimum wage laws were avowed racists.
One example: President Wilson’s labor commissioner wrote that “It is much better to enact a minimum-wage law even if it deprives these unfortunates of work. Better that the state should support the inefficient wholly and prevent the multiplication of the breed than subsidize incompetence and unthrift, enabling them to bring forth more of their kind.”
But I don’t think I would call a minimum wage law an example of “systematic racism,” or an advocate or opponent of higher minimum wages “racist.” As individuals who value people’s rights, or even just “decent” individuals, I suggest that we are called to care about the poor, and to be wary of judging others’ motives. To advocate for the flourishing of others and think the best of others’ motives—or, at least, not always think the worst—is probably a good way to live.
So there are many “systemic” problems good people should actively oppose. But assuming that people who support these systems are racist is presumptuous, and believing the world is full of racist systems tends to let individuals off the hook for their own choices: if the system is against you, and you assume it emerges not out of altruism or self interest but a hatred of your race, the odds are not only stacked against you—your bad situation is largely someone else’s fault.
Peaceful marching against injustices is fine. But once the march is over, we need to do the real work of making our society, and particularly our economy, more inclusive for all.
