Racism as interpreted by Nigel N.

Racism isn't just the act of using racial slurs, however distasteful they may be, but rather racism is the outward hate or severe dislike for a specific race of people. Outward being the key word in that statement and the one that brings together the meaning of the word. Openly hateful acts of abuse, physical or otherwise, towards an individual because of where they are from is racism in its purest form. However, when someone just uses a racial slur casually in a joke they don't hate that particular race. People often misinterpret that as racism A racist has to have the intention of demeaning the race he or she dislikes. For example, Don Imus who was a popular radio show host was harshly criticized for racist remarks on a live radio broadcast. These remarks were indeed distasteful and racist, but that doesn't mean that he was a die-hard racist. He also apologized afterward, and while that doesn't excuse what he said, I really doubt he was a true racist.