The word ism means
Action; process; practice
or
A distinctive doctrine, system, or theory:
You will have to explain now how ism denotes a system. Like I said before, there is a difference between the words racism and oppression. You do not need a level of power to be a racist. What circulates throughout this country...and what we learn and such, is not controlled by the white race, but controlled by white OPPRESSORS. The words oppressor means
a person of authority who subjects others to undue pressures
by keeping them down by severe and unjust use of force or power.
Those are the people who have the ability to control whether African americans can get jobs, They're the policemen that can arrest a black man for no apparent reason, or beat him to a pulp and get away with it. Those are the people PREVENTING others from moving up. If an oppressor is racist, they will be able to prevent others, such as those of color from moving up. that man living in Alabama can be oppressive, if he purposely doesn't vote for a black candidate. that's oppression.
Racism isolated is something different. It's based on belief. It's not based on action, which is what oppression is. There is nothing preventing me from a belief that I am intrinsically superior to that of another race. There is nothing preventing me from hating a person for their skin color. I am prevented however from preventing a white man from getting a job, because I am not in the position to do that. I am prevented from abusing a white person, because in society, I will be severely punished, whereas vice versa, a white person could get a slap on the wrist. My opinion is that Racism is a belief, a belief that in itself has been hidden in society for many years. Racism influences oppression, but that doesn't mean that someone cannot hate a race. Ofcourse racism can affect a person's actions, but not only a certain race. I'll finish by sayin again, that OPPRESSION is the factor that should be evaluated.
your'e right, not liking someONE has nothing to do with racism, we're talking about hating or disliking a collective group of people.
These are all of my opinions. Also, I know this is not school, but if you have something you feel you should teach, i would hope that you would have an interest enough to teach it...even if there is a disagreement. I certainly am not closed to learning new things. But in order to hear what you view as the truth, I will have to display what I view as the truth first.