Did you know that the definition of “racism” was changed in 2020?
Confession: I didn’t. (Stupid ol’ me still hadn’t updated my dictionary.)
But apparently, a Drake University student in Iowa wrote a letter to Merriam-Webster, suggesting that the definition should also include “systemic oppression” after the death of George Floyd.
The Merriam-Webster editor agreed. And now — “À la peanut butter sandwiches!” — the word racism was promptly revised. (Update your vocabs appropriately, peeps.)
This student, Kennedy Mitchum, had a very specific motive: She wanted more people to feel guilty of racism.
That’s what BBC’s reporting implied:
Ms Mitchum had encountered people pointing to the dictionary to prove that they were not racist because of the way they felt towards people of colour. She felt the definition needed to reflect broader issues of racial inequality in society.
“The way they felt towards people of [color],” eh? You mean, they denied being racists because… they didn’t have racist beliefs?
How dare they!
The BBC’s reporting continued:
Ms Mitchum told the BBC that she first became aware of the shortcomings of the current definition around four years ago.
"I was just speaking on my social media about racism and just about how the things I was experiencing in my own school and my own college," she said. "There were a lot of things that were racist but it wasn't as blatant."
No, they weren’t “racist” — at least, not according to the pre-2020 dictionary. Mitchum may have encountered bigotry, hatred, intolerance, ignorance, bias, exclusion, condescension, cruelty, parochialism, classism, pettiness, derision, insularism, narrow-mindedness, or been prejudged. That’s certainly possible.
Imagine that! The English language ALREADY had a whole bunch of words and phrases that meant other things!
(You’d think a dictionary company would appreciate that, but nah.)
The BBC’s reporting continued:
Ms Mitchum says the dictionary definition was being used by people attempting to tell her she was wrong.
"Some troll was messaging me trying to say 'You don't understand what racism truly is,'" she said.
People were copy-and-pasting the definition to her in an attempt to prove racism could only exist if you believe your race to be superior to another. [emphasis added]
Right: The superiority — and thus, the inferiority — of one race/ethnicity versus another had always been a key component of how we define racism. Which actually made sense, because that’s how all other “isms” work:
A capitalist necessarily believes in the superiority of capitalism as an economic system. A monotheist necessarily believes in the superiority of monotheism as an ideology. An atheist necessarily believes in the superiority of atheism; a conservative necessarily believes in the superiority of conservatism; a liberal necessarily believes in the superiority of liberalism; so on and so forth.
Hatred could be a driving factor — but not always.
For example, telling a pasty, pale white kid to cake his body with sun block is, technically speaking, a racist act: You’re implying his milk-white skin is inferior at protecting his body from the sun’s dangerous rays.
(But you better do it anyway. Trust me, folks: I live in Tampa — and my youngest kid has the red hair/blue eyes/pale skin package. He gets sunburnt in a nanosecond. Hi Micah!)
Some forms of medical “racism” are just common sense. Many save lives.
The Reverse Uno card of the pale white Florida kid is the dark-skinned black guy in a cold, northern climate: If that describes you, it might be smart to take vitamin D supplements, especially during the winter months.
After all, for white AND black people, there are always going to be genetic traits that are helpful in one situation, but harmful in another.
Kind of like the sickle cell mutation, which occurred in Africa 20,000 years ago: It helped protect carriers from malaria — a disease that’s estimated to have killed 50 to 60 billion people in history, or half of all the humans who’ve ever lived. (Others claim it “only” killed 4% to 5%.) This mutation has almost certainly been a net lifesaver.
But the sickle cell mutation also has dangerous health liabilities. And only a stupid doctor would screen white patients and black patients at the same rate!
The topic of racism was all over the news after Donald Trump — or someone with access to his Truth Social account — uploaded a “racist” video of Barack and Michelle Obama.
That’s certainly how the media described it:
NBC News: Trump Declines to Apologize for Racist Obamas Social Media Post
MS NOW: Trump’s Obsession With the Obamas Prompts Another Sickening Racist Eruption
ABC News: White House Deletes Racist Video of the Obamas Shared by President Trump
CNN: Trump Responds to Racist Video He Posted of the Obamas
NPR: Trump Posts Racist Meme of the Obamas — then Deletes It
Al Jazeera: Republicans Condemn Racist Trump Video Depicting Obamas as Apes
PBS: Trump’s Racist Social Media Post About the Obamas Draws Backlash
Axios: Trump Says ‘I Didn’t Make a Mistake’ After Racist Video of Obamas Removed
Politico: Trump Deletes Racist Video Depicting Obamas as Monkeys After Bipartisan Backlash
CBS News: Republicans Condemn Trump’s Racist Video Portraying the Obamas as Apes
USA Today: Republicans, You Own Trump’s Racist Video About the Obamas
CNN: Racist Video Is Merely the Latest in a Long Line of Trump’s Ugly Social Media Posts
The (since-deleted) video showed a number of Democrats as members of the animal kingdom:
Joe Biden was a gorilla in the video as well; Kamala was a turtle; Hillary was a boar; obese J.B. Pritzker was an elephant; and even Olivia Juliana made a cameo as a pig.
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) February 7, 2026
This wasn't "racist." It was a meme video that Trump didn't even post. Two seconds of it were captured in a… https://t.co/7fcTpEAS2z pic.twitter.com/4JNgmypi8k
Was the video “racist”?
Personally, I thought it was dumb. Offensive and unfunny. As well as ill-advised, immature, off-strategy, lame, ugly, tone-deaf, mean-spirited, cruel, crass, undignified, and self-defeating. And YES, a political leader should’ve been mindful of the racial trope of blacks/monkeys — and stayed the hell away.
Especially a football-loving president such as Trump: Howard Cosell, a lifelong civil rights activist who had long-championed black athletes, was fired from Monday Night Football when he said, referring to Washington Redskins wide receiver Alvin Garrett, “That little monkey gets loose, doesn’t he?”
Even though Cosell had used “little monkey” to describe white players, including Mike Adams and Glenn Huard. (He also claimed it’s how he described his grandkids.)
But when you live in the public eye, you better be mindful of public perception.
Was Trump’s explanation — that he only saw the beginning of the video and assumed the rest of it was fine — plausible?
I think so. (In all honesty, if Trump is watching every Internet meme from beginning to end, that wouldn’t be a great use of his time.) I’m guilty of it, too: I’ve forwarded stuff to my friends and family without vetting everything.
And occasionally, I get egg on my face.
But if you’re asking millions of your followers to take the time to watch a video, you owe it to them to make sure it’s worthy of their time. It’s inconsiderate if you don’t.
Trump’s Truth Social post was many things — most of ‘em bad. But it doesn’t fit the classic definition of racism.
Unless, of course, we monkey around with what racism means.
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First: It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battlelines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
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