The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate

[MellowDem]

95. Racism...

Is a very specific idea and pseudoscience that divides humans into made up groups and ranks them.

The term is used much more broadly than it's definition, which I think leads to problems, in that people try to address racism when they're really addressing racial bigotry, which is a very different problem to tackle, and in a lot of ways, much tougher.

Racism, as a specific idea, can be attacked and even disproven, and has been. Racial bigotry on the other hand, is very tough. Bigotry isn't an idea or theory, it's a state of mind, one that all humans instinctively gravitate towards through pattern-seeking and stereotyping. And there's so many types of bigotry, racial bigotry is just one of many.

Racism, as an idea, was just one attempt to validate and justify one very specific brand of bigotry. We see this still today with other forms of bigotry and ideas that are trying to support and validate them. For example, the "science" that says homosexuals are mentally disordered, or the (plethora) of religions which say god is against it, even the Pope.

Which is to say this. If you want to oppose racial bigotry effectively, you have to oppose all bigotry. You can't pick and choose. It is all the same rationale. You can attack racial bigots all you want, but if you support another form of bigotry, those bigots will see you as a hypocrite, simply taking sides, and they'll be right.

From what I see, bigotry runs rampant in one form or another throughout the US, in every racial, ethnic, whatever group. It runs rampant in groups that are among the least privileged and the most oppressed as well as the most privileged groups. Some forms of bigotry have extreme privilege and cover, so that even self-proclaimed progressives will support bigots. Indeed, bigotry is so widespread, that it seems impossible not to have to throw your support behind some sort of bigotry or bigot in order to effect other change or priorities, or even oppose other bigotry.

An easy example is the Presidency. I voted for President Obama. President Obama, to win votes, took a bigoted position on gay marriage. I supported bigotry. Just the lesser of two evils sort, and the President made the same calculation, etc. Other bigots remind me of this, and they're right. It makes fighting bigotry awfully hard.

A bigot is a bigot is a bigot. Some bigots have more power than others, but all are equally wrong. The sooner we call out ALL bigotry for what it is, the sooner bigotry, racial or otherwise, can actually seriously be addressed. We should have a zero tolerance policy for bigotry, but we don't, and it makes it impossible to fully address.