What are your thoughts on the distinction between racism and racial prejudice?

I see a lot of "anti-racism" sentiment on social media, which, as far as I can see, actually just seems to be anti-racial prejudice. Simply put, I am skeptical about the decency of a lot of self-appointed "anti-racism" activists.<br><br>The distinction being made here is inspired by the philosopher Lawrence Blum, who argues that "racism" should be understood as having two components: racial prejudice (which the anti-racist activists claim to want to eradicate) and a power component (which is the abuse of power by members of a racial group atop the social hierarchy, who are typically white people in Western societies) in the US.<br><br>Blum argues that racial prejudice is not by itself sufficient for racism. He often cites the example of African Americans who are prejudiced against white people, and how this prejudice, even if it is based on race, is not typically in a position to be racist. Prejudice against white people is not abuse of power, because members of this group are at the top of the social hierarchy. Essentially, white people in the US are under no systemic threat from African Americans in the way that African Americans are under systemic threat from white people. Hence, under this conception, prejudice against white people is not typically racist, but is racial prejudice.<br><br>In contrast, when white people in the US are racially prejudiced, this prejudice is typically complemented by this power component. So in this sense, when white people are racially prejudiced, it is typically racist. <br><br>Hence, the term "anti-racism" is misleading if it's being used in the way that I described it. What it really is, is anti-racial prejudice.<br><br>Edit: quick update - thanks everyone for the replies so far. I am busy at the moment, so I will update this reply in a few hours hopefully.