Final answer:
Sociologists explain racial economic inequality by highlighting systemic issues, like education and housing, and how they contribute to wage gaps and economic barriers, often influenced by institutionalized power structures like those critiqued in critical race theory.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sociologists examine economic explanations in racial inequality by exploring how systemic issues such as inequitable education and housing segregation contribute to wage gaps and limited economic mobility. Factors like institutionalized power structures, including those highlighted by critical race theory, maintain these disparities.
For instance, the Anderson Hypothesis suggests that when a nation's dominant race exerts economic and political control, perpetuating untrue history and illogical reasoning, racism persists. Further, apartheid in South Africa exemplifies the extreme institutionalized and legal racism that has led to global condemnation for its creation of social inequality.
As observed by economists like William A. Darity Jr., even though overt discrimination by individual employers might not be as prevalent today, covert forms of racism still exist and affect the economic experiences of minority groups. Policymakers use the understanding of these socioeconomic factors, often guided by the work of sociologists, to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of financial assistance programs aimed at reducing inequality.