Racism is based on prejudice toward so-called racial groups.
But racism goes beyond simple prejudice. The discrimination can take place in the job market, housing market, educational system, health care service system, or some other arena. What this definition of racism implies is that one group has the power to discriminate against another. For example, in the housing market, discrimination against African Americans leads to greater difficulty renting apartments, taking out mortgages, and buying houses in certain areas. These individual acts of discrimination, however, add up and become larger patterns, resulting, for example, in racial segregation in housing.