Discrimination means exclusion or a specific action done to one person because of a specific quality of theirs. It stems from the disposition of looking down on someone who you view as lower then yourself for color, race, or religion. It can take on a very ugly face, it is almost always irrational and it makes you unable to act normally around the person you have prejudice toward. This causes friendships to never happen and it makes you dislike or hate someone without getting to know them. Often it is caused by family beliefs and it only can be broken by letting go of your pride and caring for the very people you hate, that's one way that we can get rid of this form of hatred.
Discrimination is never a mental state, it is SOLELY conduct. An employer must DO something, ACT on a decision, before it could be found illegally discriminatory. The employers intention is irrelevant - even employers who "look down" on nobody can easily make a technical violation of Title VII.
For examples, ALL "Diversity Plans" which are not designed to eliminate statistical discrimination are violations of Title VII, even if the employer meant to be non-racist.