racism vs preference

these days, many people have gotten themselves confused between the concepts of racism vs preference. i extract here the how the word "racism" has been defined in dictionary.com:

as well as how the same site explain the concept "preference":

it is very clear to me (and explained by dictionary.com) the difference between the two concepts.  in the case of "racism", behind an (usually negative) act, there is an underlying belief of superiority over the other person (of a different race). this is distinctly different from the concept of "preference" that simply refers to one person's choice without going into the details of why he prefer one over the other. without trying to explain further, we can also see that these two concepts are not necessarily mutually exclusive. whatever the case, it is very dangerous to assume a person is a racist simply because he/ she shows a certain preference of one particular race over another. 

so, why do we see more and more people confusing between these 2 concepts, i can only second guess the following reasons:

• lack of understanding of the concepts
• wrong use of words
• making of unsubstantiated assumptions about a person's preference

whichever the reasons may be, it is useful to be clear about the meanings of the words we use, understand them, and using the right word at the right time, and more importantly, never to make assumptions. but i have a more interesting question:

can a person be racialistic towards his own race?

what do you think? a simple question, as a kid, i was very close to my mum. and given her usual stories of how she was badly treated by my dad's side, i tend to see them in very negative light,  rough, uncouth and uncultured. instead, i chose to identify myself closer to my mum's peranakan chinese roots and culture. so, technically, i was a chinese but chose to see chinese in very negative light. does that mean i am a racist? of cos, i have my answers now. but it would be interesting to hear any other thoughts about it.

and yes, i thank john for allowing me to clarify the differences between these 2 concepts.