Racism is predictable. It’s predicted by interaction or lack thereof with people unlike you, people of other races.

Silver’s remark frames racism less as a mysterious personal defect than as a socially patterned outcome that can be anticipated from measurable conditions—especially social contact across racial lines. The emphasis on “interaction or lack thereof” echoes the idea that prejudice is reinforced by segregation, homogenous networks, and limited firsthand experience, while sustained contact can reduce stereotyping by replacing abstractions with relationships. Calling racism “predictable” also reflects Silver’s data-oriented sensibility: attitudes can be modeled and correlated with environment, not merely condemned as isolated moral failings. The quote’s significance lies in shifting attention toward structural and behavioral levers—where people live, whom they know, and how integrated their daily lives are.