Institutional racism is best described as?

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Racism that is institutional refers to policies, practices, and structures built into organizations and systems that produce unequal opportunities and outcomes for racial groups. It shows up in how schools, housing, employment, criminal justice, and other institutions operate, often in ways that maintain advantages for some while disadvantaging others, even when no one intends harm. It can occur within a single institution or across multiple institutions that interact to create systemic inequities. For example, funding formulas based on local property values can create resource gaps between districts; hiring or promotion practices may systematically favor one group; policing and sentencing rules can yield disproportionate impacts. This differs from private biases, cultural beliefs about races, or individual discriminatory acts, which focus on personal attitudes or isolated actions rather than broad policy- and structure-level effects.