I wrote "like a lot of conservatives."
When you make common cause with people who believe that black people are biologically or culturally inferior, that's the definition of racism.

Derbyshire is racist. That's beyond dispute.

The conservative movement has been stoking white racist resentment in modern times back to Nixon and Wallace. Under Buckley, its founder, The National Review took an editorial position in favor of denying Black people the vote and in full support of white supremacy and segregation. The only reason Derbyshire got fired is likely because he was a bit too upfront and embarrassed people like Lowry who would much prefer to maintain a plausible deniability on such issues. But Derbyshire and his countryman and fellow hate merchant Peter Brimelow have been quite upfront about their beliefs for a long time.