I agree with you. My son has just started high school. He went to a small private grammar school and his best friends were all Asians. They came over to our home all the time. Now he is in high school and his circle of friends is expanding and they are more and more white and hispanic. We are hispanic ourselves. I don’t think it’s racism at all, I think it is more a modern form of tribalism. People cluster with those they feel most comfortable with..and often that comfort level begins with appearances.
I had never thought of it as tribalism. When mine was in high school, the few Hispanics and the very few Asians "caucused" with the white kids. They hung together. I don't think many non-black kids hung out with the black kids, other than the interracial dating scenario I mentioned before.