As an African-American woman, I think that part of the reason that it’s such a challenge for white people to recognize and accept the reality of racism is because they truly don’t understand what it is and, in many cases, don’t care to learn, either. But whether their ignorance is deliberate or not, it’s important that the true definition of racism be made available to, at a minimum, prevent the “unknowing” whites from saying it was never available for them to learn.

Racism is often used in a loose and heedless way to describe the belief that on the basis of their genetic difference, some racial groups are innately superior to other racial groups in intelligence, temperament, and attitudes. However, to describe racism simply as a peculiar idea does a major disservice to the deplorable impact that racism has had on the economies and histories of most of the world.

Racism is a system of power and prejudice designed to subjugate people of color, while preserving the resources, opportunities, and privileges of white people. This system is fundamentally a socioeconomic structure that not only directly proposes to sustain the racial order—whites leading the racial hierarchy—but it also uses religion, politics, and education to preserve the freedoms naturally warranted to white people. Moreover, based on history, racism has awarded white people the power, resources, and wealth to deprive, exploit, and injure blacks and other minority groups for beneficial purposes—usually economic, political, and social gain.

Still, aside from the systematic pervasion of racism that has gravely impacted black and brown society, the most common form of racism is subtle racism or microaggression. This form of racism I have personally found many white people to be oblivious to. For instance, if a white “friend” says to their black friend, “Geez Ray, you’re really smart and cool. You’re nothing like other black people.”

http://racisminamerica.org/best-explanation-white-people-cant-recognize-accept-reality-racism/