To expand a little I feel it’s more that people do not understand racism appropriately rather than not wanting to speak about reality. People, ironically, fear being labeled. For most racism is blatant and obvious. A “do not say or do these specific things” mentality. This leads to the misunderstanding. The reality (as you say) is we should acknowledge racism. By acting like it isn’t there we are doing a disservice to the people who are affected by the systemic issues that do exist.

In the U.S. this is very much a larger cultural issue, while also being a problem elsewhere in the world. If I had to guess: Cultures with stronger authoritarian leanings in significant sub-cultures such as work and familial structures also see stronger racism or similar beliefs on the same tree. How is this fought? Humility and acknowledgement.