Who has the power?
More specifically, who has the power to act on their prejudice?
In almost all cases, it’s the dominant group (i.e. whites, males).
Power is something that is only available to individuals and groups that can function as a cohesive unit. Individual men and many groups which are primarily composed of men have power, because they are able to make a decision as an individual or group and act upon it. But men overall do not have such a decision making capability, the vast majority of men are as divorced from the houses of power where important decisions are made as everyone else.
In the case of acting upon prejudices, everyone has the ability to act upon their prejudices. It's those who can do it with impunity who have power in this case. There are some men who have this kind of impunity, and many who do not as they would be ruined for acting upon them. The same is true among other demographics.
Do you think it is possible for a man to be disempowered despite the being a member of the dominant demographic? If an individual man is disempowered, impoverished or politically isolated, but holds racist or sexist views, would you consider him to be a racist or sexist despite that disempowerment?
As in, "the dominant group," like I stated.
Yes. Due to a large variety of factors. Take gay men, for example. They're still in the "dominant" group of males, but simultaneously in an oppressed group. They don't have as much power.
That's prejudice, which is just as bad in my opinion, because it assists those who do have the power to segregate.
How does "the dominant group", which I assume you mean men in general, act as a cohesive unit? How do we come to a decision about what to do as such a unit?
Politics. That's how.
Is it possible for a member of the dominant demographic to be disempowered in any way other than also being a member of a minority demographic?
I'm talking about social, economic, and political power... so in that sense (in my experience) not really, no.
Let's imagine there's a person in solitary confinement. This person sees one other each day, who delivers a meal insufficient to be proper nourishment. Any attempt to communicate is met with rebuke. This person is a straight, white, cisgendered, able bodied male. You would consider this person powerful?
The reason I ask this question is because I want to find out what your underlying concept of power is. I want to understand the nature of how members of a particular demographic inherit 'power' through membership alone, or if it is necessary to be involved in a decision making process, executing a decision or benefiting from the execution of a decision to inherit 'power', or through some other process. Traditionally power is considered to be the ability to make and execute decisions which have an impact on other people not involved in it. But this trait is neither universal to all individuals within any demographic, nor exclusive to any demographic, nor does it apply to a demographic as a whole which has no collective ability to act in a unit this way.
A person in solitary confinement doesn't have much social, economic, or political power. Regardless of the fact that they're a straight, white, cisgendered, able bodied male, I wouldn't consider that person powerful.
However, some people do inherit power through that membership alone. Like they say, "it's not what you know, it's who you know."