When you consider systemic oppression, you probably immediately think of racism. After all, we built this country on white supremacy—from the colonization of Native American lands to the subjugation of Black people to generations of slavery to today, when people of color are still exposed to various forms of discrimination and violence.
But it’s not just anti-color that fuels systemic oppression.
There are other groups who suffer under discriminatory systems, too: women, the poor, and people who are disabled, to name a few. And when race intersects with those identities—a Black woman, a disabled Korean immigrant, etc.—the experience of systemic oppression is amplified. (Read more about intersectionality, the intersection of multiple marginalized demographics, here.)
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What is systemic oppression?
Systemic oppression is discrimination against and unequal treatment of historically underserved groups. According to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, “Systems of oppression are individual, institutional, and societal and their effects on people have a long history deeply rooted in American culture.”
Systemic oppression is subordination by another entity, writes Breneil Malcolm, a doctoral candidate at Penn State University in Learning, Design, and Technology with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Malcolm gives an example of systemic oppression: “Jane, a woman of a low socioeconomic status … grew up in a poor neighborhood where she constantly faced ideas of inferiority within various social groups, including her family and school. Jane faces struggles as a woman employed in a predominantly male organization and endures discrimination, such as being overlooked for opportunities because she could not afford education that matched her colleagues.”
Still, most of us know systemic oppression as a form of racism, usually against people of color.
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That’s a reality—and it’s rooted in an erroneous concept to begin with, according to Dr. Jae M. Williams, executive-in-residence at Emerson College in Boston. “[T]he concept of race in America was built on a foundation of flawed assumptions and false beliefs,” Williams says. “The idea that people can be categorized into distinct racial groups based on physical characteristics is a social construct, not a biological reality. Yet this flawed foundation has been used to justify discrimination, oppression, and inequality for centuries.”
Williams explains that “race is a social construct that has been used to categorize people based on physical characteristics such as skin color, facial features, and hair texture. This construct has been weaponized to justify systemic oppression and inequality, perpetuating a legacy of violence, discrimination, and exclusion. From the earliest colonial days to the present day, race has played a central role in shaping American society.”
Joe Bruno, executive director of the White Response Project, says we’ve been brainwashed.
“Throughout American history, the stigma associated with the color Black has been exploited to justify and perpetuate racism,” Bruno writes. “Deep seated prejudices and stereotypes have been weaponized to marginalize Black individuals, shaping discriminatory policies, unequal treatment, and systemic inequalities. From slavery to segregation and beyond, Black individuals have endured systemic oppression that has perpetuated negative associations.”
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How does systemic oppression impact marginalized communities?
In a policy brief, Drexel University's Center for Hunger-Free Communities in Philadelphia, writes that “systemic racism is a form of violence that places or keeps people of color in conditions of hunger and poverty through the structural withholding of resources and opportunities, hyper-surveillance, and unjust incarceration inflicted on racialized individuals and communities.”
Examples of some of these practices are set out in a Health Affairs article by researchers Paula A. Braveman et al., which include:
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residential segregation
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unfair lending practices and other barriers to home ownership and accumulating wealth
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schools’ dependence on local property taxes
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environmental injustice
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biased policing and sentencing of men and boys of color
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voter suppression policies
The effects of systemic oppression can last for many decades or longer, and often require the government to step in to right past wrongs and correct ongoing discrimination.
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Redlining is one example of systemic oppression. It’s “an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race or national origin of the people who live in those communities.”
The Department of Justice had to launch an initiative in 2021 to combat redlining, which started in the New Deal era and continues today, with a lasting negative impact.
According to the DOJ press release at the time, “For American families, homeownership remains the principal means of building wealth, and the deprivation of investment in and access to mortgage lending services for communities of color have contributed to families of color persistently lagging behind in homeownership rates and net worth compared to white families. The gap in homeownership rates between white and Black families is larger today than it was in 1960, before the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.”
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What does systemic oppression look like in the workplace?
Executive coach Latesha Byrd tells InHerSight that, “systemic oppression impacts historically marginalized employees in all areas of the workplace. Oppression leads to discriminatory hiring practices, which makes it harder for these employees to get high-paying roles or advance within the company.”
Byrd explains that “companies may have recruitment strategies rooted in bias, or they fail to train hiring managers on inclusive interviewing practices. They look for candidates who already fit within their culture rather than looking for employees who will add to their culture. This also leads to pay disparities and historically excluded communities receiving much lower compensation than their white male counterparts. This is why Equal Pay Days exist.”
That’s not all.
Byrd adds that “systemic oppression also creates company cultures that perpetuate microaggressions and biases. This will eventually impact employees’ mental health and sense of belonging, causing them to disengage or even lose interest in their career growth.”
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There’s another problem, too: Stereotypes created by prejudice perpetuate systemic oppression.
Paulette Piñero, founder and CEO of Unstoppable Latina, says “like all forms of systemic oppression, the problem is with the stereotypes we uphold for marginalized folks and how we deem them unworthy of occupying spaces of influence and power.”
She gives the example of a white employee asking Piñero, who was wearing a suit, to empty the trash. “Would I experience the same racism if I was wearing hoop earrings, wavy hair, and a full-blown plena outfit?,” she asks. “Yes. Being in this skin, with these features, and having a fat body had everything to do with this woman immediately seeing me as ‘the help’ or ‘cleaning lady’ and nothing beyond that.”
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People with disabilities also face systemic oppression, and it starts with job descriptions. In fact, “the hiring process is riddled with ableist language that contributes to the massive disparity of out of work people with disabilities,” writes keynote speaker Chris Ruden, author of The Upper Hand: Leveraging Limitations to Turn Adversity Into Advantage.
The requirements typically seen in job descriptions (Must be able to type fast. Must be able to sit for 8 hours. Must be able to carry 25 lbs or more.) are “limiting ableist barriers that have nothing to do with performance,” Ruden explains.
Even “income limits that come with public benefits” is an oppressive systemic practice that people with disabilities face daily, says Catarina Rivera, a disability public speaker, DEI consultant and founder of Blindish Latina. There’s a monthly threshold you can’t earn above to keep your Social Security disability benefits, and it’s not much: $1,470 (or $2,460 if you’re blind).
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What can you do about systemic oppression?
Throughout history, discrimination, economic exploitation, and our legal system have caused systemic oppression. Byrd tells InHerSight that “in order to break these systemic barriers, company leaders must confront their unconscious biases and develop workplace policies and programs that combat these barriers.”
Her company Perfeqta created a free guide for executives about incorporating inclusive leadership practices into their day-to-day work. They provide recommendations on conducting pay equity audits, providing professional development opportunities for historically excluded employees, enhancing executive visibility, offering flexible work arrangements, and providing health and wellness benefits.
“Breaking systemic barriers at work requires leaders to identify biased systems that exist and find new ways to revamp them and measure their success,” says Byrd.
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The National Equity Project makes two statements about systemic oppression that are important to keep in mind:
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All negative forms of prejudice and/or bias are learned and therefore can be unlearned.
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Oppression and injustice are human creations and phenomena and therefore can be undone.
"The need to tackle racial underrepresentation in business is urgent and obvious,” says Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the World Economic Forum. “To design racially and ethnically just workplaces, companies must confront racism at a systemic level, addressing not just the structural and social mechanics of their own organizations but also the role they play in their communities and the economy at large."
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In order to make meaningful changes, you need to first admit there’s a problem.
For instance, only when you “acknowledge Black women's systemic oppression in corporate spaces and work [can you] dismantle the structures that perpetuate these injustices,” says Tatyana Moaton, Ph.D., Senior Strategy Advisor at San Francisco Community Health Center. She notes the changes required include:
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Increase the numbers of Black women in leadership positions.
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Make pay equity a reality.
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Create a safe work environment with enforced anti-discrimination policies.
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Provide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training to all personnel, from junior hires to the C-Suite.
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Make mentorship and sponsorship programs available to Black women.
Accountability is important, too, for everyone in the organization, as well as for those brought in to implement changes.
DEI consultant Janice Gassam Asare, Ph.D., author of Decentering Whiteness in the Workplace: A Guide for Equity and Inclusion, says DEI practitioners can help lead workplaces to inclusivity by holding themselves accountable.
That means if your company is bringing in a DEI consultant, you should ask them accountability questions, such as:
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What actions are you taking to learn more about communities outside of your own?
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How are you reckoning with your own internalized oppression?
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What steps do you take to learn about DEI best practices?
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How are you learning more about marginalized communities?
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Dismantling an oppressive system is a lot of work. But it’s vitally important and each small victory in each workplace has a positive knock-on effect.
Karima-Catherine Goundiam, founder and CEO of digital strategy firm Red Dot Digital and business matchmaking platform B2BeeMatch, puts it this way:
“Systemic racism enables individual racism. A system that’s not actively striving to eliminate racism is often (perhaps inadvertently) fostering the conditions that allow it to persist. And in a complacent system, individual bad actors can thrive because there are no roadblocks to stop them. The roadblocks are placed in front of [Black people, Indigenous people and people of color] employees instead.”
