It has no scientific basis. In reality, separating Asians from whites or blacks from Hispanics is about as valid as separating blond-haired people from brown-haired people. It's based purely on very shallow phenotypical characteristics like melanin concentration, hair texture, and nose shape.

In fact, by the logic of most people (who believe there is such a thing as race), one could just as easily divide people into categories based on whether they have mid-digital hair or whether their big toes are longer than their second toes.

Most people define racism as the idea that there are any substantive differences among the races, but I define racism as the idea that there is such a thing as race. By this definition, almost everyone in the world is a racist. Probably the main exceptions are biologists.