The reference dictionary american Merriam-Webster will alter the definition of the word racism on the suggestion of a young black woman, who wanted to see better reflect its influence on the targeted populations. Recently graduated from the university of the Drake (Iowa), Kennedy Mitchum had contacted the venerable institution, which publishes dictionaries since 1847, to offer a discount. “I told them that they had to include the fact that a group of people is the subject of a systematic oppression. This is not simply: I don’t like someone”, she explained to the local channel KMOV (branch of CBS).
Asked by AFP, the editorial director of Merriam-Webster, Peter Sokolowski, has confirmed that the definition was to be changed after the exchange with Kennedy Mitchum. He recalled that the second of the three definitions of the word racism included already this concept, “and we’re going to make it even more clear in our next version”. In the current version of the second definition, racism is “a doctrine or political program based on racism and to apply its principles” or “a social or political systems based on racism”.
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“This is the kind of continual updating, which allows the dictionary to stay up to date,” said Peter Sokolowski, “based on rigorous criteria and research to be able to describe the language as it is actually used”. One of the editors of the dictionary has indicated to the young woman that the definitions of other words “related to racism or racially motivated” would be updated, without specifying which. “We apologize for the damage we have caused by not acting sooner,” wrote the head, according to a message published by the university of Drake and retweeted by Kennedy Mitchum.
The website of Merriam-Webster, the definitions are available in free access, has registered nearly 50 million unique visitors in may, according to the site SimilarWeb.
31 commentairesHérétiquele 10/06/2020 13:53
The lexicographers of the great dictionary will be put to his knees before the Democrats left-wing radicals who want nothing more than to rewrite history.
Fredooole 10/06/2020 13:24
becoming a minority, it’s really going to have to walk the walk.
Some of them enjoy already.
GASPARDNORMANDle 10/06/2020 at 11:12 am
This is a new form of revisionism
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