Systemic Racism: A Look At Redefining the Term

This week marked the launch of The Middle Ground Podcast, a podcast hosted by myself. In the podcast’s inaugural episode, “Let’s Talk About Systemic Racism: Does It Really Exist?,” I take a close look at the term system racism and a common interpretation of the term. During the podcast (Apple Podcast and Spotify), I offer a new definition for the term, systemic racism. I also introduce and define two other terms: systemic poverty and systemic classism. I thought I would share my definition for these terms in this blog as well.

Systemic Racism: A perpetualized system in which a person of color is subjected to a disproportionately inferior treatment by law enforcement and judicial practices due to a racially biased worldview.

Systemic Poverty: a perpetualized system in which an individual is stripped of financial and investment opportunities; thus, causing a disproportionate financial mobility between individuals who live in poverty and those who do not.

Systemic Classism: a perpetualized system in which there is an inequitable treatment of those who are considered “lower class,” particularly in the realm of education. As a result, less opportunities are afforded to these individuals because of this designation.

Systemic racism has had an impact on systemic poverty. Subsequently, systemic poverty has had an impact on systemic classism. Systemic poverty and systemic classism then creates a cyclical loop that makes it challenging for the victim to break out of.

As an aside, the terms systemic poverty and systemic classism allow for some flexibility in ways that the term systemic racism does not. Essentially, anyone from any race can be a victim of systemic poverty and systemic classism. As I mentioned in my podcast episode, there should be a real conservation about the relationship between systemic poverty/classism and Rural America. Nevertheless, there is a fundamental difference between Rural America and Black America. The cyclical loop between systemic poverty and systemic classism within Black America may be directly influenced by decades of systemic racism, whereas the cyclical loop within Rural America has been caused by something else.

As with all my blogs, this is solely my opinion. I do not want to pretend to have the absolute “right answer.” I am speaking to myself as much as I am speaking to others. It is okay to disagree with me, and I welcome discourse. My only request is that every word of each blog is weighed heavily and considered before agreeing or disagreeing with the points presented in each entry. Please keep in mind that I am a Christian, so my beliefs and opinions will be influenced by my faith. I will upload blogs every Friday. If you would like to suggest a topic for me to cover, you can do so via Facebook or twitter. You can follow me on twitter @mjeromebell #themiddlegroundblog

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