My dad has told me throughout my life that “everyone is a little racist”. He chooses to believe that everyone has hatred ingrained in everyone. What the real question is, is this racism or is this prejudice?
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines racism as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” while defines prejudice as "a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience."
So is he really racist, or is he just prejudice? I believe that his ideas are prejudice. Racism is a form of discrimination that solely focuses on a race or ethnicity of a person or group of people. More importantly, he never acts upon this belief. He has never gone out of his way to treat, disrespect or harm another being based on this prejudice. He was raised me to treat everyone the same respect and kindness that I would want to be treated with. Personally, I believe this disqualifies him as a racist. This idea that he possesses stems from his personal experiences as a child. When he was in elementary school, he got picked on and beat up walking home from school frequently. One time they beat him up so bad that they split open his head. As a result, he developed the belief that everyone has the ability to do harm, and if these kids were inflicting harm for no reason, people, regardless of age, who have a motive, will without a doubt take the chance to hurt you, so you must be prepared. He is a very kind-hearted person with good intentions, but when he feels threatened, he will protect himself.
