Douglas Warren is confused and he is trying to confuse the discussion of racism. In his letter to the editor last week he argued that racist comments made by individuals are examples of “prejudice” but not examples of racism because (Douglas Warren believes) the term racism only refers to systematic prejudice against a group by another group, not individual acts and attitudes. This is nonsense. This distinction only exists in Douglas Warren’s head. Look in any dictionary and you will see that racism applies to both individual and societal acts and attitudes. Racism is prejudice based on race or ethnicity whether expressed by a group or an individual.
Lee Otterholt, Laguna Beach
