Which term best describes racism that occurs within and between institutions?

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Racism that is built into the way society’s organizations operate across multiple institutions is structural racism. It isn’t about a single person’s prejudice or about the rules of one organization alone; it describes how policies, practices, and norms across education, housing, employment, health care, law enforcement, and other systems interact to create and sustain racial inequities over time. This cross-institutional, interconnected pattern is what makes structural racism distinct from other forms.

Interpersonal racism focuses on individuals’ biased attitudes or actions in everyday interactions. Institutional racism refers to biased policies or practices within a particular institution or across institutions, but the phrase “within and between institutions” really points to the broader system-wide effects that link many institutions together, which is structural racism. Ethnicity is a social identity, not a form of racism.