Race structures all major US institutions from the colonial era onward

Evidence

There has been a racial system in North America since the earliest days of contact with and conquest by Europeans. This system has linked political rule to the racial classification of individuals and groups. The major institutions and social relationships of U.S. society— law, political organization, economic relationships, religion, cultural life, residential patterns— have been structured from the beginning by this system. — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 143

Categorization

• XREF: This is the definitional root claim that existing vault racial-formation notes reference as establishing the systemic, society-wide reach of the racial order.
• DEFINE: Names the racial system explicitly as linking political rule to racial classification, the historical premise the whole theory builds on.