Too many times now we’ve seen on TV, in the news, and on social media the misuse, and almost the misappropriation, of the term racism when the term prejudice is much more applicable. A lot of the time people conflate these terms, especially when making a case based on the belief that white people are under some kind of racial war and that they are losing. A common rebuttal to this argument is that racism is a power-hungry system that thrives off of a racial caste system.

That being said, in most modern dictionaries, these are two different definitions of the same thing, and thus stating that they are one in the same is an conflation of the two to define racism as both a power system and the subjugation of another race, and because one group does not fulfil the requirements set by this hybrid definition, they are thus disqualified from being victims of racism.

From a syntactical standpoint, prejudice and racism of course share common ground, and common themes, as well, which is surely why they are used so interchangeably. They’re also both abstract nouns that revolve around the idea of one group of people being racially profiled and mistreated. Prejudice, though, is simply that, while racism is that with a complex system weaving its way through each and every interaction. One way people have tried to show the difference, although the grey line between both definitions is left up in the air, is that if there is an interaction between two people of two different races and one is impeded by the other, like being rejected for a job offer, or a promotion, or something to that caliber, that could be considered racist, with an emphasis on could, of course. If there is no real consequence of the encounter other than the hurt feelings of that same person, then the situation is judged as one of prejudice.

It’s not that simple, though. Like it or not, racism is politics, and by that I mean it’s a shitty system that we have not been able to overthrow because too many brain-dead morons feel that somehow, people that they refuse to understand or befriend have been impairing their “superior” country/judgement/whatever-else-stupid-fucking-claim, and because of that, we have to make sure that they don’t take our jobs or our country. Which for the record, was created by people of all different backgrounds trying to start a new life.

Yes, I think people on both sides on the aisle have misused the term racism from time to time. Yes, I think if you call something racist when it’s actually prejudice, you should be mature enough to hear people out if they actually want to have a discussion about it. If you ask for a Kleenex, don’t be annoyed if someone tells you it’s a different brand of tissue. That didn’t parallel the discussion as much as I had thought it would, but my point still remains: the the specific may very well reflects aspects of the general in it, but that doesn’t mean that they are one and the same. Just make sure that you are consistent with your terms, at least. It’s the least you can do, and that’s all we seem to get from anyone these days anyway.