Attitudinal Racism (Malik Speaking)
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• First, attitudinal racism has not declined as much as you suggest. On college campuses there is good reason to believe that it has increased in recent years. If we look at the number of reported incidents of blatant racism, it has been going up, not down.
  
• Second, attitudinal racism is not typically idiosyncratic. People who shout "nigger" aren't being odd at all. They are acting out a role that is well established in this culture. It has many supports within the culture.
  
• Third, we shouldn't downplay the importance of attitudinal racism. I'm mainly concerned about what sociologists call "institutional" racism - the patterns in the distribution of wealth, income, education, good jobs, and other things that always put African Americans on the bottom. These patterns exist because of a history of racial discrimination and they do not necessarily require that anyone intend that they persist. But my point is that attitudinal racism is an important indirect support for institutional racism.

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