The Dictionary Definition of <em>Racism</em> Has to Change
Editors at Merriam-Webster are working on a revision of the definition of racism. So the Great Awokening is even going so far as to change the dictionary? Not quite—sociopolitics drew the usage of the word racism beyond the dictionary definition long ago, and it is high time our dictionaries got the message.
Like others, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has, up to now, given us what we might consider the 1.0 definition of racism, the one we would cite for the curious child. That is, what used to be referred to as prejudiced: “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.”
Since the 1960s, however, has often been used in terms such as and , referring to structures of society that disadvantage people of subordinated races because of the collective effect of bigoted attitudes. For example, one might say that societal racism is to blame for neighborhoods with decaying infrastructure, because white flight lowered tax revenues.
