It's about how you perceive others. You may be best of friends with someone but still regard his entire race/ethnicity inferior. That's a classic definition of racism.
No. Not at all what the article suggests. Look at this...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/us/san-francisco-shoplifting-epidemic.html
It's still classified a misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to no more than a year in jail.
I found something about the UK as well. I don't know if it's...