Final answer:
Institutional discrimination implies that organizations and social structures are responsible for maintaining racial inequality, which can adversely affect individuals' opportunities and life experiences. It references a form of racism that is deeply embedded in societal institutions and can manifest in laws, policies, and practices such as racial profiling and white privilege.
Step-by-step explanation:
To say that institutional discrimination exists is to assert that organizations are responsible for racial inequality, as it means that racism is embedded within the structures and operations of social and political institutions. These institutions have the influence to affect large groups of individuals and control the systematic distribution of resources, power, and opportunity. As such, institutional discrimination affects the life chances of people at an individual level.
When political institutions fail to provide resources and opportunities equitably, they operate in a way that perpetuates inequality. Additionally, institutional discrimination isn't necessarily about the presence or absence of individual racism but rather focuses on the collective effects of institutional policies and practices. Examples of institutional racism include laws that disenfranchise certain groups, housing and education policies that segregate and limit opportunities, and criminal justice practices like racial profiling.
Institutional racism is prevalent in the judicial, executive, legislative, and bureaucratic branches of government, and it is through these institutions that laws and norms are created which either directly or indirectly foster racial inequality. The concept also encompasses 'white privilege', which indicates the systemic advantages that members of the dominant racial group enjoy over minority groups. Thus, the struggle against institutional discrimination is not just about raising awareness but also about the responsibility of institutions to enact change and ensure fair distribution of societal benefits.