US dictionary Merriam-Webster to change its definition of racism

NEW YORK (HRNW) – The American reference dictionary Merriam-Webster will change its definition of the word racism at the suggestion of a young black woman, who wanted it to better reflect the oppression of people of color.

Kennedy Mitchum, a recent graduate of Drake University in Iowa, contacted Merriam-Webster, which has published its dictionaries since 1847, to propose updating the term.

“I basically told them that they need to include that there’s a systematic oppression upon a group of people,” she told the local CBS affiliate KMOV. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, I don’t like someone.’”

Merriam-Webster’s editorial manager Peter Sokolowski confirmed  that the definition would be modified after Mitchum’s request.

The dictionary currently offers three definitions of racism, and Sokolowski said that the second definition touches on Mitchum’s point — but that “we will make that even more clear in our next release”.

In the current version of the second definition, racism is “a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles,” and “a political or social system founded on racism.”