Duane, you're right, it is a very confusing concept, and I think that is why there is so much disagreement in how different people interpreted this article.

Anyone can be prejudiced toward anyone. Prejudice basically means "to pre-judge someone, usually negatively, before getting to know them."

There are many definitions of racism. One definition is "prejudice or discrimination against someone based on their race." Again, that could apply to anyone.

Another definition of racism, the one that I focus on in this article, has to do with power. In America, wealthy White people used their power to create systems to unfairly target Black people. What those systems are, and how they operate, is complex and takes research to understand. The clearest example is in our criminal justice system, where corporations make a lot of money from convict slave labor and private prison income. Our prison system is actually evolved directly from slavery. Even our 13th Constitutional Amendment that abolished slavery still allows for people convicted of crimes to be enslaved. Many non-violent and drug crimes were actually created in America in order to criminalize, incarcerate, and enslave Black people, specifically. Theoretically, the law applies equally to everyone. However, in practice--especially when it comes to victimless crimes like drug use--the police tend to primarily target Black people and will even plant drugs on them in order to get them arrested. Then, Black people are sentenced for up to life in prison for petty crimes that many people of other races commit without consequence.

This is the kind of power dynamic that makes prejudice against Black people so destructive that it is termed "racism." The loopholes in the system, and the prejudices of those who have authority within it, are much more harmful to Black people, and usually the White people with authority who target them unjustly do not have to face any consequences. This creates a perception of Blacks as inferior, dangerous, and deviant--even though they are no more likely to commit crimes than White people in the same position.

Since Black people make up a small percent of the U.S. population, we do not have the power to be racist toward White people in that way. However, I argue that because the system just wants Black people to suffer, it allows Black people with power to be racist toward other Black people, whether their power comes from money, education, judicial authority, politics, etc.

I'm sorry that answer we so long, but it only scratches the surface. If you look into the resources I shared at the end of the article you will begin to understand more.