When I was about 20, I realised I had racist instincts. I’d make snap judgments about people based on their ethnicity. I’ve tried since then to notice and override my prejudices. I’ve always assumed that’s what being a thinking person is about. But I still have prejudices. How could I not? I grew up in society.
Individual racism matters deeply. However, the much more powerful force in shaping the lives of ethnic minorities is systemic racism: the system of inequality that benefits white people. Now at last the focus is shifting from individual to systemic racism.
In recent years, vast effort has been expended on hunting out individual racists. These people are typically identified by their speech, and then publicly shamed as devils. Those doing the shaming can then pose as anti-racist angels, even if they benefit every day from systemic racism. So-called political correctness often takes this form.