In any state where whites are the oppressed group (de facto, not necessarily de jure), voting for a black politician against a white politician because he is black would be a continuation of that racism. In any state where blacks are the oppressed group (de facto, not necessarily de jure), voting for a white politician against a black politician because he is white would be a continuation of that racism.
I'd say there are two ways to define racism. To just take the literal meaning of the word I would describe racism as distinguishing between races. So any acknowledgment or recognition of differences between various racial groups would be racism. No negative connotation explicitly implied. However, I think the typical usage is that racism means associating a race with specific negative traits, and/or acting on racial bias.
I'm not too hot on blondes. Doesn't mean I wouldn't hire one if they were qualified for a job I was offering, but also doesn't mean I would date someone I wasn't interested in.
Are we far off from seeing some early returns?
A-Train - "I would be happy with the Jazz if they picked Schroeder at #14 over Larkin"