In most of these cases I tend to think that the racist language is being used as a shortcut to causing the most offence. It's not about a genuine belief that anybody's inherently better or worse because of ethnic origin or anything else, it's just meant to be as hurtful as possible. So really I think the likes of Suarez (and Xhaka if he has indeed done this) are probably just dickheads who are prepared to go really low as opposed to actual racists.
It's a blurry difference though, isn't it.
If you get into the nuts and bolts of it, it's accepted psychology that all racism stems from fear of inferiority, rather than the projected, puffed up 'superiority claim'.
So some KKK member in the 1890s who doesn't like how his wife glances at the hard-bodied black field workers, and doesn't like how it feels when he thinks about '
those rumours' some white women giggle at, and thus feels it necessary to dole out racist language wherever possible - he doesn't
really believe that black men are inferior, in fact, his worry is quite the opposite, hence his obsession with them.
He too is 'just trying to be hurtful'. So can we say, he's not a racist? Obviously not.
The 'just trying to be hurtful' card, is a really difficult stance to take seriously, especially in a day and age where racist language is increasingly perceived as a weakness/failing of the spouter, rather than the target. It just doesn't really make sense to me as an excuse.