First of all, I try to be a good person and abhor any expression of violence, so I would intervene to the best of my ability, despite my advanced age and diminutive stature. If someone is getting beaten up, then my goal is to save them from harm, not to "inform" them of the difference between prejudice and systemic racism. In both of our heightened states of emotion, adrenaline, and present danger, I'm going spend my time in the worthwhile endeavor of saving someone.

You, as far as I know, are not presently in physical danger, so we can have this discussion under less fraught circumstances . The victim of a black on white beating is getting a lot of stuff. They are getting anger, violence, injury, harm, even hatred. Some, I know, are tempted ato call this racism, but racism not only involves antipathy, but also the ability to control the circumstances and opportunities of other people's lives due to social and economic superiority.

Now, I have some more questions. Why is the white person getting "beat up?" Did they say or do something inappropriate, even racist, and raise the ire of the black person? Is the black person someone who randomly picked a white person to beat up because of racial antipathy? Are the two angry at one another and having a disagreement that becomes violent? As a result of the violence and heightened emotions, does racial antipathy then come into play? (I've seen situations become "racialized" in moments, even if the initial encounter did not begin that way.)

What happens after the fight? Despite who initiated it, the black participant is likely to be punished more harshly than the white participant if law enforcement becomes involved. If either of the two needs to be taken to the hospital, then the white participant will more likely get superior treatment. (While you may not agree with this, it IS documented, and it IS racism.

Trayvon Martin, who was in a fight with a white person for racial reasons not of his making, never had a chance to "win" a fight against a person with a weapon. I do not know the degree to which Trayvon was either "winning" or "losing," but I know that after he was killed by a person with superior force, the person with the superior force, i.e., a weapon, still got to claim, and be acquitted of murder, on a charge of self-defense although he was the one who initiated the encounter. Was that encounter initiated because of prejudice, or because of racism?

So, Mr. Eichenberger, I am saying directly to your face, or at least your image, that a white person getting beaten up by black person due to racial differences is prejudice and not racism. I hope that our disagreement, which, so far, has been civil, does not degenerate into verbal or physical violence requiring some third party to decide whether it's racism, prejudice, or some other factor. I know, a long answer to a short question, but I hope you appreciate that I have taken you seriously.