Samuel Johnson would have approved

Samuel Johnson, the 18th-century lexicographer, would, I believe, have commended the African-American woman who last week got Merriam-Webster to revise its definition of the word, “racism.”

Unhappy with the dictionary’s wording, Kennedy Mitchum, the Missouri woman who recently graduated from Drake University, began writing to the editors.

“Racism is not only prejudice against a certain race due to the color of a person’s skin, as it states in your dictionary,” she wrote. “It is both prejudice combined with social and institutional power. It is a system of advantage based on skin color.”

Johnson, a brilliant word-hoarder who gave us the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, was known for his erudition. He was also a man of wit. For example, he defines “lexicographer”--himself--as “a harmless drudge.” His definition of “lunch” seems perfect for our fast-paced lives: “as much food as one’s hand can hold.”

Above all, Johnson loved precision. For example, this anatomical definition of “heart”: “The muscle which by its contraction and dilation propels the blood through the course of circulation.”

The word, “racism,” doesn’t appear in Johnson’s dictionary. It didn’t show up in dictionaries until the early 20th century. However, the word, “race,” does. It was widely and loosely used to describe people with a common ancestor, or those grouped by tribal, language or geographical identity. For example, “the Scottish race.” Only over time did the word come to refer to those with common physical characteristics, like skin color.

Merriam-Webster gives us three definitions for racism. First, it is “the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” Second, racism is a doctrine or political or social program based on racial assumptions. And third, racism is prejudice or discrimination based on race.

What Samuel Johnson would have liked about Kennedy Mitchum’s definition is how in two simple sentences she combines the personal and the structural aspects of racism and identifies its systemic nature. Here it is again. Racism is “prejudice combined with social and institutional power. It is a system of advantage based on skin color.” How apt. How precise.

By lobbying the American dictionary editors to revise their definition of racism, Ms. Mitchum understands, as did Samuel Johnson, that language is never static. Language is culture, and culture, including our shared American variety, is always growing, evolving, clarifying, defining itself.

The Merriam-Webster editors know this as well and have agreed to revise their definition. In so doing, they will help readers better understand the word’s breadth and depth of meaning.

Long after slavery, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement of the last century, racism is still a deadly force in our communities. Our job is to see it, understand it, and then to do something about it.

© Ben Jacques