So your misunderstanding of what is and is not racism is actually very common and one of the reasons why so many people are so against the institutional change that is frankly necessary to help right the centuries of wrongdoing against Black people. Firstly, assuming you're a white person (or at least not Black), you may think that you know what racism is, but as someone who has never experienced it directed towards them (or even the specific racism towards Black people if you are a non-Black POC), you do not. Secondly, racism is not always obvious. While being verbally and physically abusive towards someone because of their race is indeed racism, so is making assumptions about someone based on their race or generalizing about an entire group of people. For example, it is racist to say you are not attracted to Black men. Black people don't all look alike, they don't all have the same characteristics. Therefore, to write off an entire race of people as "unattractive" is racist, despite what some masc white gays might think/say. Although not finding Black men attractive might not seem harmful, it has the effect of "othering", and thus dehumanizing them. Additionally, though people might say their reasoning is based on physical preference, it is more likely to be a result of societal pressures and norms to which that person has been exposed. This is the same reason why many white Americans generalize about black people as being poor, lazy, etc. It is also the reason why many Black people have negative opinions of their own appearance. Through media, historical narratives, even toys, white American society reinforces stereotypes as well as the idea of white people being the default and preferable to other kinds of people. If we go back to the issue at hand, the controversy seems to stem from Guzman's wife (who is from Brazil, a country well known for its racism and for being the last country in the western world to abolish slavery in 1888) calling people the n-word on social media and in person. Although her intent may not have been racist (although this is debatable), the action itself is still racist. The n-word developed into a slur because white Europeans used it to demean Black slaves during the colonial period. Therefore, its use by a white (or non-Black) person, in any context, is still racist.
