Conversations about "racism" often shut down because we define the term differently. We talk past each other, then wonder how the other person can be so obtuse. So, what is racism?

Racism is the sinful devaluation (or overvaluation), subordination (or supraordination), and exclusion (or preferential inclusion) of God’s image-bearers on the basis of ethnicity, culture or race. It is an idolatrous ecosystem of beliefs, behaviors and social structures that assigns value or advantage based on ethnicity, culture or race. Racism is individual and systemic, behavioral and attitudinal, conscious and subconscious, explicit and implicit, active and passive.