“In America there is institutional racism that we all inherit and participate in, like the air in this room— and we have to become sensitive to it.” -Henry Louis Gates Jr. 

Solid Ground defines Institutional Racism as “the systematic distribution of resources, power and opportunity in our society to the benefit of people who are white and the exclusion of people of color.” It has led to such issues as discrimination and segregation. 

Many counties across America still show evidence of segregation today, with one notable example being the persistence of segregation in Indiana schools.  

The challenge of segregation spreads across institutions such as the education system, where it finds pathways that affect neighborhoods, communities, and continues down the line to influence various inequities in crucial elements of our society such as the economy, healthcare, employment, and housing. With racism at the heart of so many American institutions, the inequities caused by the persistence of segregation will continue to exist and perpetuate as a societal norm.