Would you actually argue that it's not systemic? Assuming you understand that systemic does not refer only to a system of government and its explicit policies.
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I suppose it might be like one idiot janitor telling another idiot janitor "Hey, you're not allowed to apply for a promotion 'cause your black" and the black janitor never bothering to open the employee handbook or talk to HR or make any effort at all to find out if this is true and instead wailing to the heavens that he's being unfairly discriminated against.
No, not if the person who told him that was a part of the process of promotion, which as I understand it, they were. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like the people who ensure the integrity of the political process were the ones who told him that he couldn't. That's like being discriminated against by HR, not your coworker.
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No, it's more like belittling someone who thinks the company policy of "No one can judge others based on their race" means that you need to be white or GTFO
No, that's more like if "No one can judge others based on their race" were the actual written policy, but the higher ups interpreted the policy as you need to be white or GTFO.
It's persecution. By all means feel free to downplay it, but just because it's an odd example doesn't mean it's even nearly the only one. Whether because the person didn't know they had options to appeal the process, or simply didn't have the will to, that's exactly what persecution is-- holding someone down where they would otherwise progress. In this case, Ninomori was not only held back by being given false information, but simply by the fact that his town tried to prevent an atheist from running, or even simply wouldn't vote for an atheist.
I'm obviously not saying that this is severe persecution.