Although it doesn’t always feel like it, human society has come a long way in its attitudes to race. Despite a few instances and with a long way to go, interpersonal racism is in decline. However, systemic racism and structural inequalities are still significant problems, even if we’re not necessarily aware of it. In this incredibly well considered article Archie, member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group, breaks it all down. It’s a really fascinating read.
Earlier this year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as among the gravest crimes against humanity in history. While the vote focused on historical injustice, it also renewed discussion about the lasting effects of slavery and colonialism in the modern world. The impact of these systems did not disappear once abolition laws were passed. In many cases, inequalities created during those periods continued through institutions, economic structures, and social conditions long after explicitly racist laws were removed.
For many people in the United Kingdom today, racism is understood primarily as an issue of personal prejudice. In this view, racism means openly discriminating against someone because of their race, using racist language, or deliberately treating people unfairly. Most people strongly reject this behaviour, and many would not consider themselves racist in any sense.
However, modern discussions increasingly distinguish between interpersonal racism and systemic racism. While the two are related, they are not the same thing. Understanding this distinction is important because racism does not only operate through individual attitudes; it can also exist through systems and historical structures that continue to produce unequal outcomes even when no individual intends harm.
Interpersonal Racism
Interpersonal racism refers to racism expressed directly between individuals. This includes racial slurs, discriminatory behaviour, stereotyping, harassment, or consciously treating people differently because of their ethnicity or background. This is the form of racism most people immediately recognise. Historically, it included segregation, openly racist political movements, and explicit discrimination in employment, housing, and education. In modern Britain, overt racism is less socially acceptable than it once was, and legal protections now exist to prevent direct discrimination. As a result, many people assume racism itself has largely been solved. Yet inequality can persist even when openly racist attitudes decline.
Understanding Systemic Racism
Systemic racism, sometimes called structural or institutional racism, refers to the way institutions and wider social systems can produce unequal outcomes between racial groups, even without openly racist intent from individuals within them.
Importantly, systemic racism does not require every person within a system to hold racist beliefs. Instead, it refers to patterns that consistently disadvantage some groups while benefiting others. These inequalities are often linked to historical conditions that continue to shape modern society. One example in the UK can be understood through wealth and social mobility.
When slavery was abolished across the British Empire in the nineteenth century, formerly enslaved people were freed with little or no wealth, land, or economic support. At the same time, compensation payments were made not to enslaved people, but to former slave owners. Many wealthy British families and institutions were therefore able to preserve and grow wealth accumulated during slavery, while freed Black populations often began with severe economic disadvantage. Because social mobility in Britain remains relatively low compared with many other developed countries, wealth and poverty frequently persist across generations. This means historical inequalities can continue to influence outcomes centuries later.
Wealth and Socioeconomic Inequality
Today, significant racial wealth disparities still exist in the UK. According to research by the Runnymede Trust and the Office for National Statistics, Black households in Britain typically hold substantially lower levels of wealth than white British households. Median total wealth for Black African and Black Caribbean households is significantly below the national average, while rates of home ownership are also lower.
These differences are often driven by socioeconomic factors rather than simple individual prejudice alone. Wealth is heavily connected to inherited assets, property ownership, educational opportunities, and access to higher-paying employment. Families who historically possessed wealth were more able to pass on advantages such as housing, savings, and private education to future generations. By contrast, groups that historically faced exclusion, discrimination, or economic disadvantage were less able to accumulate wealth over time. This is one example of how systemic inequality can persist even after discriminatory laws formally end.
Education, Employment, and Policing
Discussions of systemic racism often focus on measurable disparities that appear repeatedly across institutions. Research in the UK has shown that applicants with traditionally white British-sounding names are often more likely to receive interview callbacks than applicants with names perceived as belonging to ethnic minorities, even when qualifications are identical.
In education, some ethnic minority students experience higher exclusion rates or unequal access to opportunities. In policing, Black people in England and Wales are disproportionately more likely to be stopped and searched compared with white people. Health inequalities also exist. Black women in the UK are significantly more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than white women, according to NHS and government data.
Importantly, these disparities do not automatically prove individual prejudice in every case. Poverty, geography, education, and historical disadvantage all interact in complex ways. However, the consistency of these patterns has led many researchers and institutions to conclude that structural factors play a significant role.
Why the Distinction Matters
For many politically moderate or centrist people, the concept of systemic racism can initially feel accusatory, particularly if they do not personally hold racist beliefs. However, recognising systemic racism is not the same as claiming that all individuals are intentionally racist.
A person can oppose racism personally while still living within institutions shaped by historical inequalities. The discussion is therefore less about assigning personal blame and more about examining how systems function over time. This distinction matters because focusing only on interpersonal racism can make broader inequalities appear accidental or unrelated, even when patterns consistently emerge across multiple areas of society.
Misunderstandings Around Systemic Racism
One common misconception is that acknowledging systemic racism means claiming society has made no progress. In reality, significant progress has been made. Legal segregation has ended, anti-discrimination laws exist, and public attitudes toward overt racism have changed substantially over recent decades. However, progress does not necessarily mean inequality has disappeared entirely.
Another misunderstanding is that systemic racism suggests every individual from one racial group is privileged, or every individual from another group is disadvantaged in exactly the same way. Human experiences are shaped by many factors, including class, education, geography, and family background. Systemic racism is therefore best understood not as a claim about every individual experience, but as an attempt to explain persistent patterns that appear across institutions and populations.
Toward a More Informed Discussion
Discussions about racism are often politically and emotionally charged, which can make productive conversation difficult. Yet understanding the distinction between interpersonal and systemic racism allows for a more nuanced conversation. It moves discussion beyond the idea that racism only exists when individuals openly express hatred, and instead examines how inequalities can develop and persist through wider social systems.
Recognising systemic racism does not require assuming malicious intent from every institution or individual. Rather, it involves acknowledging that systems can produce unequal outcomes even when many people within them believe they are acting fairly.
Conclusion
Racism is not limited to individual prejudice alone. While interpersonal racism concerns direct discriminatory attitudes or behaviour, systemic racism refers to broader historical and institutional patterns that can create unequal outcomes over time.
Understanding this distinction is important because inequality does not always depend on openly racist intentions. Historical systems, economic structures, and unequal starting conditions can continue to shape opportunities across generations long after explicit discrimination has formally ended.
Recognising systemic racism is therefore not about assigning collective guilt. It is about developing a clearer understanding of how societies function, how inequalities persist, and how progress can continue. A more informed discussion allows us to move beyond simplified assumptions and toward a fuller understanding of both history and modern society.
Sources: United Nations General Assembly; Runnymede Trust; Office for National Statistics; Equality and Human Rights Commission; UK Government Race Disparity Unit
Archie
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