This article is written by Rajiv Warikoo, Regional Program Manager, Government of Ontario, Canada

In 2020, we had a long overdue conversation about racism. One of the phrases that broke into the mainstream was “systemic racism”, and for good reason.

Systemic racism refers to all the policies and practices entrenched in established institutions that harm certain racial groups and help others.

The "systemic" lens is useful, because it allows us to distinguishes between racism or discrimination at an individual level, and focus on how racism is embedded in the structures of our society: the economy, politics, education, and more.

Understanding racism

In other words, systemic racism is not about individual attitudes. It is about how society works. And good people can participate in systemic racism.

Another useful term is Institutional racism, which is a systematic set of patterns, procedures, practices, and policies that operate within institutions so as to consistently penalise, disadvantage, and exploit individuals who are members of non-White groups.

According to researchers in this area, institutional racism encompasses organisational procedures such as hiring, promotion, and evaluation. It affects recruitment and promotion, institutional policies, and organisational climate, and may function at three distinct levels within institutions: attitudes and action of personnel, policies and practices, and structures and foundations. For a deeper dive, see also this academic paper and this article.

Systemic racial discrimination in organisational culture is an issue across the country, and indeed the world, but it may take different forms depending upon the groups that are represented in the local population

I have worked in operations as a senior leader for almost 15 years, and mentored many individuals who have shared their experiences about the racism they have faced in the workplace. Learning from their experiences has made me think about how I can contribute to removing the barriers and promote an inclusive work culture in the organisation. In my experience, it’s all about shifting culture and educating staff at all levels.

People sometimes ask me, “Why is this relevant to the public sector?”. My answer is that government can only make a difference when we begin to remove the barriers within our own organisations. In today’s world, when I look at federal or state government leadership, the percentage of non-white public servants is not very high. Why shouldn’t the public sector hire people from all walks of life, including at the senior level? We need to bring people on board from different backgrounds so we can understand society much better, and make informed decisions accordingly.

That might not happen overnight, but we can start by educating ourselves about what institutional racism is and feels like.

Going beyond diversity training

Current management responses to racism often come in the form of "diversity management" programmes, which often claim to deal with issues of organisational culture.

But in my experience, they rarely do so in ways that systematically and effectively diagnose and remove discriminatory barriers experienced by women and men who are members of racial minorities.

Systemic racial discrimination in organisational culture is an issue across the country, and indeed the world, but it may take different forms depending upon the groups that are represented in the local population.

Senior executives should do more to initiate mentorship programs and also ask their direct reports to identify staff who could be future managers

Issues of “casual” discrimination in the workplace may be experienced differently depending on background, as people of indigenous, Black, Asian and South Asian ancestry are met with different stereotypes. The same is true for immigrants compared to people who are born in the country, and women compared to men. As a society we need to work hard and research to get enough evidence to assess the nature of the differences.

With research-based tools to assist in a systematic diagnosis of organisational culture, these differences can be examined, and specific strategies can be implemented. It is high time for the senior leadership in organisations to roll up the sleeves and work on making the difference.

Public sector organisations across Canada are focusing on anti-black racism policies, with a focus on educating employees at all levels about diversity. Senior executives are now looking to bring people from diverse background on board, which will take some efforts at all levels of government.

Senior executives should do more to initiate mentorship programs and also ask their direct reports to identify staff who could be future managers.

In Canada, I have also noticed government organisations have started to use survey links with every job posting to identify if a candidate is from a minority background (e.g Black, Indigenous, South Asian) etc. This way they can short-list the candidates on the basis of their background and, of course, experience.

Systemic racism is not just about organisations having HR policies in place. It’s about looking at the organisational structure across the board. Looking around the room and seeing that policy of diversity in the workplace has materialised through hires of Black, Indigenous and people of colour — also at the senior level. — Rajiv Warikoo

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