NEW YORK - 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 to AFP 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."
"This is the kind of continuous revision that is part of the work of keeping the dictionary up to date, based on rigorous criteria and research we employ in order to describe the language as it is actually used," Sokolowski said.
One of the dictionary's editors told Mitchum that the definitions of other words "related to racism or have racial connotations" would also be updated, without specifying which ones.
"We apologize for the harm and offense we have caused in failing to address this issue sooner," the editor wrote, according to a message published by Drake University and retweeted by Mitchum.
The Merriam-Webster site, where the definitions are available for free, had nearly 50 million unique visitors in May, according to the SimilarWeb site.
Merriam-Webster's Twitter account has also become a viral hit in recent years, with Buzzfeed calling it "the sassiest dictionary on Twitter".
Agence France-Presse
HOUSTON - George Floyd's hometown of Houston held a memorial march for him on Tuesday, where attendees recounted a "gentle giant" whose legacy had helped the city largely avoid the violent protests seen elsewhere in the United States.
The mayor's office said 60,000 people gathered downtown to honor Floyd, who died after a white police officer pinned his neck under a knee for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.. Floyd's death has ignited protests across the country.
Floyd lived most of his 46 years in Houston's historically black Third Ward neighborhood, located about a mile south of the park where the march began. He moved to Minneapolis in recent years for work.
The memorial march was organized by well-known Houston rappers Trae Tha Truth, who was a longtime friend of Floyd's - and Bun B, who worked directly with Floyd's family for the event. Houston's mayor and police chief attended.
"We're gonna represent him right," Trae Tha Truth, whose given name is Frazier Thompson III, told the crowd of several hundred people gathered for the march. "We are gonna tear the system from the inside out."
He added: "George Floyd is looking down at us now and he's smiling."
After a prayer, the marchers exited the park and began to walk toward City Hall.
Democratic US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents portions of Houston where Floyd was raised, told the crowd that she would introduce police reform legislation in Congress on Thursday in honor of Floyd.
Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is black, said he understood marchers' pain and told them they were making an impact.
"People that are in elected office and positions of power - we are listening," Turner said. "It's important for us to not just listen, but to do. I want you to know your marching, your protesting has not gone in vain. George did not die in vain."
Houston has so far largely escaped the violent protests, with some attributing that directly to the legacy of Floyd himself.
"The people who knew George the best help set the tone for Houston. They knew what he was about. He truly was a gentle giant, a sweet guy," said David Hill, a Houston community activist and pastor at Restoration Community Church, who knows the Floyd family.
-reuters-
