Upon first glance, you may think that the terms “prejudice” and “racism” are synonymous, but this is very much not the case. Even though we hear the term racial prejudice commonly, these two words have very different connotations and meanings. Both are fundamental errors of thinking that we need to steer away from, but they are not the same. To help explain the difference between prejudice and racism better, this video offers an in-depth analysis of each term.
Prejudice, by definition, can be applied to anybody. Any person can be prejudice against another, no matter the age, race, or gender of the person. Prejudice has to do with deep-seeded bias and subconscious interactions in our brain being acted on in our real lives. While prejudice can be experienced by anybody, racism cannot. Racism is defined by a combination of prejudice and power. Historically, as white people have had more power in government, land-owning, and general industry, they cannot experience racism, only prejudice. So basically, all racism is prejudice, but not all prejudice is racism. Only oppressed minority groups can experience racism.
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