I agree. The bullies bully those who are can be portrayed as different. Can be redheads, size, a cleft lip, or even - as in my school - the girl who's parents had plastic flowers in the back yard.

I don't think bullies usually care about race or power, they just want to be respected by their peers - using a distorted definition of respect. Of course there's also a group that are just psychopaths, but I don't think they care about race either. For them it's just a means to an end.

And finally, yes, racists do exist, I personally think that's passed down from adults.