Is There Racism?

Everyone assumes there is such a thing as "Racism", we hav elong discussions about how to overcome peoples racist attitudes. But I wonder of it really has anything to do with race rather than just the "other".

In Northern Ireland the hatred is between the Catholics & the Protestants, the same race, almost the same religion but that does not stop them hating each other.

In the Middle East there is hatred between Israelis and Palestinians, different religion the same race. Consider the fighting between the Sunnis and Shias, much like Northern Ireland, different brands of the same religion, or Croats & Serbs, and so on.

Is it that as people we need someone to hate or is it more that we need to belong? Ot is easy to blame the others, in Norfolk it is the Portugese whom people worry about. They take our jobs etc. If we consider race it is something very easily identifiable so leads much more easily to discrimination and hatred. It is also easy to argue that people of a different race are inferior or have different abilities, which is just dressing up the idea of inferior.

Such feelings are universal, all groups have other groups to look down upon.