Final answer:
Racist beliefs embedded in economic life manifest through practices like racial steering and implicit bias, promoting structural inequalities within communities and institutions. Although minority communities show resilience, history reveals that market forces alone cannot eliminate systemic racism, signifying a need for further societal changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
When we examine racist beliefs that become part of economic life, we can see how racism, beyond personal prejudice, becomes a structural component deeply embedded within societal institutions and economic practices. One way this occurs is through discriminatory policies and practices that dictate economic interaction. An instance of such a practice is racial steering, where real estate agents direct potential homeowners to certain neighborhoods based on race, reinforcing residential segregation and economic disparities.
In the same vein, implicit bias plays a significant role in reinforcing racial hierarchy in education and the workforce. This often leads to the disproportionate placement of minority students in lower educational tracks, impeding their economic opportunities. Institutional racism was starkly evident in the system of apartheid in South Africa, demonstrating how legal structures can perpetrate economic inequality based on race.
Despite these challenges, markets can offer some degree of freedom to oppressed groups, as seen in the resilience of minority communities through their economic activities. However, history indicates that market forces alone are insufficient to eradicate discrimination, as evidenced by the persistent inequality affecting African Americans in the United States despite legal advancements. Therefore, it is clear that while some businesses might operate purely on economic incentives, overarching economic racism needs to be addressed to ensure equity and justice in the market.