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Are Vaccine Mandates Racist by Definition?
Or is it hard to say
Last week I wrote about how the CDC changed their definition of vaccine. Many called the changes Orwellian. Of course, that’s a reference to a novel where the dictionary was rewritten in order to manipulate public opinion. The definition of racism also continues to change. During the George Floyd riots, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary changed its definition of racism because of a complaint.
A black graduate student at Drake University told CNN she grew tired of having conversations about racial injustice, just to have people point to the dictionary as a defense for why they are not racist. She said, “I kept having to tell them that the definition is not representative of what is actually happening in the world.”
To rectify the problem, the editors of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary decided to add — systemic oppression — to their definition of racism.
The dictionary editors were most likely influenced by the writing of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Over the past few years, Kendi has made his own contribution to redefining racism. Kendi defines racism as a collection of racist policies that lead to racial inequality, that are substantiated by racist ideas.
Kendi believes racial inequity is evidence of racial policy.