The way we discuss racism is so simplistic, and sadly Diane Abbott has added to that. It is absolutely true that modern Western racism is intertwined with our history as a colonial power and the growth of that power through the sugar/slave trades. Being black is the principal way people experience racism in this country right now.
As a white atheist of Jewish and Irish heritage, I wouldn't dream of suggesting I experience anywhere near the level of racism as black people's daily experience. On the other hand, I don't experience the level of daily racism suffered by the Chasidic Jews who live just a few miles from me.
The Jewish experience is instructive because it reminds us that racism finds a way to create racial difference even in the absence of black people. For centuries, Jews have been banned, banished, excluded, tortured and murdered. They were absolutely seen as physically different, as racially distinct.
My grandfather, who died just over a year ago, may not have had to sit at the back of the bus in his native Germany. But he wasn't allowed to get on the bus at all, or go to school, or restaurants, or public parks, or university. How can we possibly
learn about racism if we only recognise it in its most familiar manifestations?