the.com/racism

means The belief or system that ranks people by race, denying some the dignity and opportunity given to others.

from Built from 'race' (used since the 1500s for a group sharing common descent, itself from French 'race,' possibly tracing back to Italian 'razza,' origin disputed) plus the suffix '-ism,' which turns a concept into an organized belief or practice. The word 'racism' itself is surprisingly recent — it only entered common use in the 20th century, coined to name and condemn the ideologies of racial hierarchy that were being used to justify segregation and, most urgently, the eugenics and genocide of that era. So the idea is old; the word arrived late, built specifically to call the thing out.