If think they’re probably having a pretty rough time

Don’t be shitty to other people, and don’t try to play Oppression Olympics

At best: they need to experience more of the world. At worst: they’re racist.

Well, they’re definitely not the same thing.

However, the thinking behind both forms of discrimination is.

There’s some people that will not be happy unless they have a target for hate and nastiness. That kind of person is going to have something to hate, and the only reason they aren’t openly racist, or homophobic, or whatever other form of bigotry you pick is that they don’t think they can get away with it.

If society as a whole moved far enough into not being assholes to people based on their weight, the haters would just switch to a new target.

So, absolutely, 100%, racism is not the same as weight based discrimination and prejudice. But the same kind of people are taking part. It’s all based in the need to feel superior, to have someone to shit on, to point at and say “ha, they suck, I don’t”.

That’s what I’d say to someone conflating the two as exactly the same.

Then I’d break down why they’re different. How racism is built on systemic oppression on top of hate. How it’s engrained into society through a long and violent history (and I’m not only pointing to racism against a single race here, pretty much every “race” has been a target anywhere that this conversation would be taking place, and it has all been violent at some point). How race isn’t something you can change at all, barring multiethnic people that can “pass” as one of their ethnicities.

Then, I’d tell them that it’s nice to see anyone taking a stand against any kind of hate and discrimination, offer them a fist bump or other congratulatory gesture they prefer, and then GTFO.