Perceived Racism

I feel like I’ve blogged about this before, but I can’t seem to find anything, so I’m going to write about it again. How much of racism is real vs. perceived? I know in some cases it’s obvious, but in other circumstances, how do you know someone is actually being racist and not just mean or rude? I guess I’ve been lucky, or maybe naive, but I don’t think I’ve ever been on the receiving end of racism (except for reverse-racism at the airport, of course). For example, at a fancy restaurant, if I’m seated slower than other people or at a bad table, I assume they had reservations, or it’s because I’m young or not dressed well, not because I’m Asian. At a nice store, if I’m not readily assisted by a sales associate, I assume they are just lazy or rude, or again, because I’m young or not well dressed, not because I’m Asian. Again, I understand if it’s overt – like someone saying “I hate you because you’re slanty eyed” or “you can’t come here because you’re yellow” – but I’m talking about more subtle situations – like the ones mentioned above. Some would assume they are being discriminated against. So my question is how much of racism is really just perception?