There must be many answers to the question of the title. I assume many of them are rooted in different meanings of "racism", from personal racism to structural racism in all its forms. (I think Ibram X. Kendi conflates all forms of racism and creates anti-racism to deny the possibility of occupying space between personal and structural racism.) In the meaning most understood, "racism" implies personal hatred and contempt. But a passive tolerance of inequality, even if less active than hatred, is "racist," as is ignorance to the consequences of structural racism. I understand why the white teacher is appalled to be called racist when s/he cares about her Black students but wishes that they would just work harder, or why the white nurse feels the same when charged with racism because s/he works in a hospital birth center that has very different outcomes for white and Black mothers. That teacher or nurse is more likely to absolve themselves of hatred than to explore their racial ignorance and the effects of structural racism. Would it be better if we used more nuanced terms: racist hatred vs. racist oppression vs. racial ignorance vs. racial paternalism vs. racial misguidedness vs. racial differentiation vs. racial passiveness, etc.? I don't know.

I'm not fully comfortable weighing in here. Allison has revealed and illuminated the breadth and depth of racism for me in so many forms, and I do not question her in any way. I'm just not sure about the current use of the word "racism" to denote different things, and that's all I'm asking.