During its five-year HBO run, “The Wire” managed to do something in fiction that would seem to be possible only in a documentary: it showed how institutions in society can promote racism even when the people who run them are not overtly racist themselves. The show’s perspective on racism makes “The Wire” more relevant today today than when it ended in 2008.

“The Wire” depicts many different factions of society, from law enforcement to the press, that perpetuate racial inequality in Baltimore. Ultimately this comes from flaws subtler than racism hatred. One thing that the show seems to despise most is how institutionalized racism forces people to perpetuate racist policies to keep their jobs. The police officers are run by bosses who are all trying to get promoted. Every politician on the show convinces themselves that if they get one more term they’ll be able to start doing real work. Every character that attempts to make a radical change is either laughed off as an idealist or fired for offending someone higher up.

This may seem cynical, but the lack of irony makes this a tragedy instead. The tragic nature is made most clear when the show portrays teenage characters. They all attend local, terribly underfunded public schools. They grow up in the projects and public housing that the city neglects because they are more concerned with new infrastructure that will attract a wealthier population. The teachers teach them test prep because politicians need statistics on student improvement to show to voters. It becomes obvious to the students how little is expected of them in school. A process that started with the over-ambition of those in positions of power ends with the disinterest of children in education.

Despite the negative view “The Wire” takes toward how the city currently serves its people, it does not advocate for individual rebellion. The only character on the show who is completely free from the system is Omar Little. He robs drug dealers and is constantly in danger. He tries to live by a code of honor, but he ultimately learns that this code cannot work without more than one person agreeing to it. Other characters that try to escape the system by breaking its rules, like police officers Jimmy McNulty and Bunny Colvin, are well-intentioned but end up inflicting more harm than good. However, no single character in this show is has pure motives. The larger force at work is the ingrained societal system and how their individual personalities react to it.

The show does offer some idea of how a municipal system as broken as Baltimore’s might be fixed. Above all, what the show admires are those who are committed to serving the public not because it is a stepping stone to something lucrative, but because they find it rewarding. The show also shows the lucrative side of careerism, which, when faced with the institutionalized racism ingrained into everyday life, can also make professional life a mitigating force. In the show, those characters committed to a greater good are more often punished for this attitude than rewarded. When the incentives are geared toward these characters, the show argues that things can and will improve.

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday Oct. 22 print edition. Email Anthony at [email protected]