I think there are two really illuminating things you mentioned in reply to this post. The first is your overall point of terminology, particularly in your treatment of the words "racism" and "racial prejudice". I'm going to throw out another one: institutionalized racism, which in my opinion, is really a subset-but an extremely relevant one- of racism. I would argue that my understanding of racism goes beyond just one group's belief that they are superior to another, and encompasses when that belief is perpetuated and legitimized by their society as a whole. I would argue that is another difference between racial prejudice and racism. Everybody- regardless of their skin color- has some racial/ethnic prejudices of their own and in my opinion it would be simplistic to say otherwise. But I personally belief racism goes beyond that--> it occurs when such beliefs are legitimized through various power structures such as big business, government law enforcement, the media etc. I would argue that this is the major problem today; our society still creates and upholds an environment where one's quality of life and opportunities are dictated by the color of their skin, or their gender or the sexual orientation. Of course it may not be in as obvious ways (though it is still important and scary to note just how recent the era of Jim Crowe segregation was), but if you are looking for proof, turn on the TV and count how many times you see characters of color in commercials or television shows (and I'm not just talking black characters; in my opinion I would argue that Asians, Indians, Hispanics are even LESS often represented), whole segments of the United States population are ignored, essentially implying that they do not carry the same importance as their counterparts.

Another great example is the one you yourself brought up in your second example of prejudices. While I am extremely hesitant of absolving individuals for their actions, it is an obvious fact that those same young black men who commit a higher amount of violent crime are products of a society that engages in racial profiling, provides them with lower educational opportunities, is more likely to deny them a job than their white counterparts etc. In many ways our society has created an environment where the decks are staked against these young men, yet we then condemn them for their actions, without examining our own influence/impact in it.

To be 100% honest, I don't really think the terminology is super important... as long as we understand that racial equality is still far off (though we have made amazing strides!), and work in whatever way we can, (even if is only through engaging in this discussion) to combat it, that is what matters.