Colorism, Denialism, and a New Definition of Racism

Amid ongoing protests sparked by the death of George Floyd and other African Americans in the hands of police officers, Merriam-Webster dictionary has added a new entry for the word racism.

The current divisive political climate has spawned new words such as colorism, denialism, and deepfake. Of course, we all know a “Karen” if only on YouTube.

Dictionary.com now capitalizes Black when referring to people. “Capitalizing Black confers the due dignity to the shared identity, culture, and history of Black people. It also aligns with the practice of using initial capital letters for many other ethnic groups and national identities, e.g., Hispanic,” according to the editors.

Merriam-Webster’s Redefinition of Racism

Merriam-Webster has added a new entry under racism. The original definition was “a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”

Today the word includes this new entry: “The systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another.”

2020 New Words

Here are a few terms that have recently been added to online dictionaries. They’ve been edited to make them more concise.

Cancel Culture: The practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered offensive. Cancel culture is generally performed on social media through group shaming. (Dictionary.com)

Colorism: Favoritism toward those with a lighter skin tone and mistreatment or exclusion of those with a darker skin tone, typically among those of the same racial group or ethnicity. (Dictionary.com)

Deepfake: An image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said. (Merriam-Webster.com)

Denialism: The policy or stance of denying the existence or reality of something, especially something which is supported by the majority of scientific or historical evidence. (Oxford English Dictionary, oed.com)

Ecoanxiety: Anxiety caused by a dread of environmental perils, especially climate change, and a feeling of helplessness over the potential consequences for those living now and even more so for those of later generations. (Dictionary.com)

Karen:  A pejorative term for an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her way or police other people. (Dictionary.com)

Microtarget: To direct tailored advertisements and political messages at people based on detailed information about them (such as what they buy, watch, or respond to on a website). (Merriam-webster.com)

Take a knee: To go down on one knee as a protest rather than standing when the national anthem is being played at a football game, especially to protest against the unfair treatment of Black Americans. (Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org)

Read more about Merriam-Webster’s definition of racism.

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