Merriam-Webster To Redefine 'Racism' After Request From Black Woman
Merriam-Webster an American
dictionary has just revealed that it is going to redefine the meaning of “Racism”
after it received an email from a young black woman from Missouri.
The young black woman
identified as Kennedy Mitchum, 22 years old who had just recently graduated
from the Drake University of Iowa in her email said that the current definition
of “racism” which according to the dictionary 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”
Does not qualify the
meaning of the word and does not include the system that oppresses the people
of color.
In an interview with CNN
she said that:
“I kept having to tell them that definition is not representative of what is actually happening in the world.”
“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.”
Kennedy Mitchum revealed
that she had received an email from Alex Chambers, who is an editor of the
dictionary the next morning acknowledging that they had received her
recommendation was being looked into.
Alex Chambers who was quoted
said in his email that:
“This revision would not have been made without your persistence in contacting us about this problem.”
“We sincerely thank you for repeatedly writing in and apologize for the harm and offense we have caused in failing to address this issue sooner.”
The Merriam-Webster's
editorial team manager Peter Sokolowski, also told the AFP news agency that the
2nd definition of racism which would be in respect to “political
or social system founded on racism" will be added to respond to the
request.
This is coming after the
killing of George Floyd, an African American who died in the custody of a
Minneapolis police officer who had knelt on his neck for some time till he
died.
No comments