Merriam-Webster Revises the Definition of “Racism”

Merriam-Webster has changed the definition of the word "racism" because of a Missouri woman's emails.

Kennedy Mitchum wrote to the them, saying in a series of emails that the dictionary definition was "too simple" and says that it "fell short of including the systemic oppression of certain groups of people."

Merriam Webster originally defined racism as:

"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."

The dictionary's second definition of racism is now:

"Divided to express, first, explicit institutional bias against people because of their race, and second, a broader implicit bias that can also result in an asymmetrical power structure."

Peter Sokolowski, an editor of Merriam-Webster, says that an even clearer definition of the word will come in their next release.


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