Instead, the argument is that insulting or harming someone based on the color of their skin still fits the definition of racism, even if it is not aligned with a larger superstructure of racism.

it’s a recuperation of the term which is specifically what people are trying to resist. what term could we use to separate the superstructural violence from interpersonal prejudice that won’t itself be recuperated? I remind you that the term itself began life as what the white supremacists called themselves. it fell out of favor with them when people caught on that it meant white supremacist.

the notion that it today means “interpersonal prejudice on racial lines” is a weakening of the notion that provides cover to white supremacists, giving them space to complain about the racism being done to them.

there’s no such thing as racism against white people because whiteness and racism are intrinsically linked.