Former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels noticed that there were many burned out streetlights in Southeast Seattle when he toured the neighborhood in 2008. When he looked into the issue, he discovered that it was policy to wait until a resident reported an outage to replace the bulb. Most residents of the neighborhood were racial minorities, many of whom didn't feel comfortable interacting with government officials. Additionally, nearly half of residents were refugees, some of whom didn't have the language skills necessary to report an outage. This policy was an example of which of the following?
A) unintentional institutional discrimination
B) intentional institutional discrimination
C) side-effect discrimination
D) past-in-present discrimination

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The policy of waiting for residents to report burned-out streetlights inadvertently discriminated against the minority and refugee population of Southeast Seattle, who were less likely to report due to discomfort with government interaction or language barriers. This is an example of unintentional institutional discrimination, where a policy or practice has a discriminatory effect even if discrimination was not the intent.

Former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels Noticed That There Were Many