Merriam-Webster is revising its definition of racism. Missouri resident Kennedy Mitchum tells KMOV news that she is the one who emailed the dictionary and complained about their current definition. The now former definition of racism was "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." Kennedy, a recent law school graduate, emailed that their definition was too simple. “I basically told them they need to include that there is systematic oppression on people. It's not just 'I don't like someone,' it's a system of oppression for a certain group of people
Mitchum was surprised to get an email back from Alex Chambers, an editor of Merriam-Webster, and after a few back and forth emails, they agreed on a revised definition. Alex said "While our focus will always be on faithfully reflecting the real-world usage of a word, not on promoting any particular viewpoint, we have concluded that omitting any mention of the systemic aspects of racism promotes a certain viewpoint in itself".
Chambers says a new definition is now being drafted and thanked Mitchum for writing in, adding that the revision “would not have been made without your persistence in contacting us about this problem.”
So if you don't like the definition of a word you can email Alex and get it changed apparently.
Kennedy says “I really felt like that was a step in a good direction for a lot of positive change for a lot of different positive conversations that can really help change the world and helps change how people view things".