What is the difference between prejudice and racism?

Leviticus 19:15“Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.”

1 Samuel 16:7The Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Romans 2:11God does not show favoritism.

“Prejudice” is showing favor or disfavor to someone simply because of some external characteristic. For example, we might think more highly of someone because he or she looks clean, well-groomed, and well-to-do. And we might assume the worst about someone who comes from a certain part of town. Racism is prejudice based on race. That is, we might make assumptions about a person (either positive or negative) simply because of his or her skin color, accent, or clothing, and then treat that person accordingly. That’s not how God treats people, and neither should we.

Daniel 1:3-7The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. “. . . Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.” . . . The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abednego.

One other aspect that sets racism apart from prejudice is that racism comes from a position of power. For instance, when the king of Babylon conquered Judah, he forced many of his Jewish captives to adopt Babylonian language, culture, and names.

Galatians 2:11-12When Peter came to Antioch, I [Paul] had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.

The power imbalance of racism doesn’t always come from the top down. In Galatians 2, a subculture of Jewish believers pressured their leaders to show racism against Gentiles, and some of the leadership—even Peter—caved in to that pressure. It took Paul’s confrontation to lead Peter and others to repentance.