These are simple sounding words but many people mix up their meanings or misunderstand them.
Racism: 1. Racial prejudice or discrimination.
2. The belief that race is the primary determinant of human triats and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent supiority of an inherent race.
The above definitions are found in Webster's and are generally accepted. This is interesting because all humans are of the same race. There are different ethnic groups--groups that are raised in different cultures and who may look alike however on the genetic level whether from Africa, Japan, or the United States we are the same. In fact, the physical differences seen in different so-called "races" are caused by the emphasis of different genes--genes we all have, based on factors mainly related to geography.
Discrimination: 1. This can simply refer to seeing the difference between things, for example my metal detector has a discrimination setting that enables it to tell the the difference between coins and bottle tops. However, for the purpose of this article, we will be looking at discrimination as it pertains to human behavior:
2. Discrimination is when prejudice, is a basis for treating one ethnic group better or worse than other ethnic groups. (Prejudice of course is the judging of others based on factors or characteristics possessed by an individual, such as religion, country of origin, etc., without actually having knowledge of the individual in question)
BTW, on a separate note, this writer believes some racism is harmless or even positive. This falls into a very narrow category. If one is doing/saying something based on race (which I've established actually means ethnic group--not race) then that is racist. One positive example that comes to mind is the comedy of Margaret Cho (and others). She often does a "racist" imitation of her mother that though "racist" is not meant to be hurtful or harmful in any way--it is quite funny in my opinion. One could argue that even this "racism" is harmful and perpetuates stereotypes but I think at some point one must "draw a line" and say if people are taking this seriously they will find ways to be racist with or without said material.
(Sources: Webster's New Explorer Encyclopedic Dictionary, Mirriam-Webster, 2006; http://otto--ladensack.blogspot.com/2011/03/mexican-americans.html; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc6mLwOa2Ig; http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/12717530/article-April-9; http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/11274570/article-Where-desegregation-stopped?instance=hs_guest_columnists)
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