(WHDH) — A Missouri woman who says she has experienced racism in the past got Merriam-Webster to agree to revising the definition of that word.
Kennedy Mitchum, a recent college graduate who studied law, politics, and society, reached out to the company after getting into arguments with people who would quote the verbatim definition of racism.
“A couple of weeks ago, I was like, okay, this is the last argument I’m going to have about this. Like, I know what racism is, I’ve experienced it. So I emailed them,” she recalled.
According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, 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.”
“I basically told them that they need to include that there’s a systematic oppression upon a group of people,” Mitchum said. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, I don’t like someone.'”
After several emails, the editor of Merriam-Webster agreed and said a revision to the entry of racism is now being drafted.
Merriam-Webster did not say when the new dictionary with the new definition will be released but that a revision should be expected in the coming months.
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