It's something that comes up semi-regularly - people wondering if institutionalized racism is a real thing. They recognize that they're not racist and their friends aren't racist so how could an entire institution be racist?
In short: North Carolina enacted a host of voting changes that were designed specifically to suppress the black vote. They were just overturned this past week.
In long: Following the reduction in federal oversight under the Voting Rights Act, the legislators in North Carolina requested a complex breakdown of voter habits. They wanted to view habits based on age, race, party, economics, etc. Then they voted into effect 5 changes that specifically impacted the way black people in the state voted. They didn't vote in any changes that affected other voting blocs, whether by economics or age or even by party.
Yet -
Now while the new laws have been overturned, their existence speaks to the larger point about institutional racism. The NC legislature passed laws that specifically targeted and harmed the ability of blacks in the state to exercise their right to vote. Nothing says the those people were racist but the intent and effect of their legislative choices was crafted with a discriminatory goal in mind.
That the 21st century finds states still trying to pass discriminatory laws should make us think more deeply about the laws that were passed when outright discrimination and racism were acceptable. Those laws, absent facially discriminatory language, were passed with the same discriminatory goal - to restrict the economic or political gains of the black population. And given the climate of the times, those laws were also less likely to face legal challenge. That means those laws could still be on the books today.
This case should serve as a guide post for how institutional racism is crafted and how it can continue to exist long after outright racism has seen a steep decline.
http://electionlawblog.org/?p=84702
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat..._down_north_carolina_voting_restrictions.html
If anyone wants to read the 83 page opinion:
http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf