A U.S. reference
dictionary, Merriam-Webster, will update the meaning of the word “racism” after
being contacted by a Missouri African-American woman.
Kennedy Mitchum, a recent law graduate of Drake University,
Iowa, wrote the dictionary to complain the current definition fell short of including
the systematic oppression of people of colour.
Mitchum, 22, emailed the dictionary, following the death of
African American George Floyd in the custody of four Minneapolis white police
officers.
She was surprised when the dictionary editors agreed with
her.
“A revision to the entry for racism is now being drafted to
be added to the dictionary soon, and we are also planning to revise the entries
of other words that are related to racism or have racial connotations,” a
spokesman for the 189-year-old dictionary replied.
The statement was shared by Mitchum on her Facebook.
“I kept having to tell them that definition is not
representative of what is actually happening in the world,” Mitchum told CNN.
“The way that racism occurs in real life is not just
prejudice, it’s the systemic racism that is happening for a lot of black
Americans.”
Merriam-Webster’s first definition of racism is “a belief
that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that
racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”
“It’s not just disliking someone because of their race,”
Mitchum wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.
“This current fight we are in is evidence of that, lives are
at stake because of the systems of oppression that go hand-in-hand with
racism.”
She said it all started when people would argue with her
about the definition of racism and she realized the problem was in the pages of
Merriam Webster’s dictionary.
“With everything going on, I think it’s important everyone
is on the same page,” said Mitchum.
Now read Merriam-Webster’s full response to Mitchum:
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