I just confused myself re: prejudice vs bigotry vs racism
It would be so helpful if we could arrive at succinct definitions for racism, bigotry and prejudice. Well, it would help me since this is something I discuss with others frequently and always have, though I tend to focus on the systemic nature of racism.
I just succeeded in confusing the shit out of myself as I Googled to find clear definitions for each.
These long definitions are the best I found:
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Prejudice:
The word prejudice refers to prejudgment: making a decision before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case or event. The word has commonly been used in certain restricted contexts, in the expression 'racial prejudice'. Initially this is referred to making a judgment about a person based on their race, religion, class, etc., before receiving information relevant to the particular issue on which a judgment was being made; it came, however, to be widely used to refer to any hostile attitude towards people based on their race or even by just judging someone without even knowing them. Subsequently the word has come to be widely so interpreted in this way in contexts other than those relating to race. The meaning now is frequently "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence". Race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and religion have a history of inciting prejudicial behavior.
Bigotry:
A bigot is a person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own, and bigotry is the corresponding state of mind. Bigot is often used as a pejorative term against a person who is obstinately devoted to prejudices even when these views are challenged or proven to be false or not universally applicable or acceptable.
Racism:
Racism, by its definition, is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment. Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, even though anybody can be racialized, independently of their somatic differences. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination.
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Based on this, I thought perhaps the following summaries would suffice:
PREJUDICE = Prejudgment based on any number of factors
BIGOTRY = Intransigence intolerance of persons or lifestyles different from one's own
RACISM = Individual beliefs and systems which hold that one ethnicity is superior to another
While I know that racism is systemic and institutionalized...really, throughout the world, not limited to the US...the thought came to mind that there are certainly other forms of bigotry that are systemic, at least here in the US, though none so widely destructive as racism.
So are our systems both bigoted and racist? Does bigotry only apply to individuals whereas racism is always institutional?
Plus, the helpful distinction for me was that racism, specifically, connotes a belief that one race is superior to another. But people who are bigoted toward others for any number of reasons also often feel they are superior.
See what I mean? I just confused myself to no end, but would appreciate help in coming up with bite-size definitions and distinctions.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I don't have answers. As I said, I just managed to confuse myself about this whole topic.
Hopefully others will chime in and we can arrive at a consensus about definitions.
PREJUDICE = thought
BIGOTRY = action (statement, voting, physical)
RACISM = system (institutionalized, societal, individual)
The last two, of course, can be codified in law. "Racism" is usually the stickler because there is the dictionary definition and then there is the sociological definition. Both can be correct, but often get interchanged. Some people have taken to calling the sociological definition Racism, while the dictionary version is spelled with the lowercase "r". Also, many confuse themselves into thinking that prejudice always means "bigoted" and it doesn't, though it can certainly lead to bigotry. A "common" prejudice might be "attractive people are dumb." It isn't "bigoted," but it is prejudicial. Now, if one refuses to hire, service, or otherwise interact with "attractive people", then that prejudice morphs into bigotry (usually referred to as "lookism"
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Precisely as you did here. Thanks so much. 
Let's tackle your "bigotry" concerns. It seems to me you are bogged down by more words, in this case, "tolerance (or intolerance)". I don't know if you have ever seen the articles where some right-wing Christian (usually) is droning on about being "the victim of liberal bigotry" because liberals are "intolerant" of his/her homophobia/anti-choice stance/etc. The usual responses are posters claiming to be proud bigots against those individuals making the charges or claiming to be "intolerant of intolerant people." It really is confusing, so I understand your dilemma. I see, too, another poster has introduced the concept of "bias" as well. I tell you, this is like quicksand, the more your struggle with it the deeper you sink!
But let's look at "intolerance" for a minute. Just because someone is intolerant, doesn't mean s/he is bigoted. Same goes for biased. I am going to use two (sort of) non-political topics:
Intolerant -- Maxine is intolerant of smokers engaged in smoking. As an asthmatic, she cannot tolerate cigarette smoke. -- In this example the person has a legitimate reason to be intolerant of someone one else's actions. I guess this is where I see the difference, if the actions produce a negative affect against someone else, then it can be acceptable to be "intolerant." A homophobe, who purposely works to limit my rights as a gay person is intolerant (bigoted) because my being gay does not affect them in any way. They do not lose any rights as I gain them. However, my intolerance of them wouldn't be bigoted because their actions affect my life in a negative way.
Bias -- Thomas always chooses vanilla ice cream, even when chocolate is available. -- "Bias" can simply mean "prefer" with no nasty implications. I, like Thomas, am biased toward vanilla; however, were it not available, then I might choose chocolate, which I prefer over some other flavors (coconut, for example). And, as to seemingly undermine my own point, bias can be a symptom of bigotry. If someone has a bias against something/someone, then it can very well be bigotry. This can also be true in the case where someone is biased toward something/someone, but, there is always a but, it may not be bigotry because someone chooses one thing over another, the ice cream example demonstrates a "bias toward". But, were Thomas biased AGAINST chocolate, then it would never be chosen by him, and he may even go as far as to try and eliminate the choice or work to get others to have his bias AGAINST the choice.
Confused?!
but do you think perhaps bias and prejudice are opposite sides of the same coin?
Biased toward...prejudiced against?
Edit to add: I'm going with the two sides of the same coin thing...Googling those two words just now threatened to thrust me back into a pure state of confusion about this entire topic.
Very well said.
Thank you so much, lapislzi.