its based on differences.
you see someone form china, they have "funny eyes"
you hear an anfrican-canadian singing rap, he's "stupid"
etc...
I once had someone lecture my for 10 minutes on how "I'm not a racist, I'm right"
he show'd me a picture of a few african-americans and said "look at how their jaw sticks out, and their head is big in the back... now look at this picture of an ape"
that's when I threw him out of my room. He did have a point though, "White men" and "Black men" look different. it's more then skin, it your shape. I know some people from the mid-east, and yes, compared to a normal "white man" they have big noses.
people look at someone, see their big nose, see their slanted eyes, and say "he's different, he must be stupid" or something like that. Racisim starts when you notice the differences, because by noticing them, you are accepting that there are differences.
I grew up in Toronto, and it literally takes me about a week to clue in that this or that guy is black. I just dont notice it, it's not important to me. I'm sorry to say that I do notice the gender gap, but I'm trying to fix that.
am I making any sence here?