She changed the definition of "racism" in the dictionary

Brut America

The definition of the word "racism" in the dictionary didn't include systemic racism — so she decided to change it.

Transcript

00:00The current definition, it just stated like that racism is disliking someone because of

00:16the color of their skin.

00:17One race believe in they're more superior than another one based on those factors.

00:22So I thought that they were missing, you know, the systemic aspects of racism.

00:28I think it's more than just thinking you're better than someone.

00:31It's more than just, you know, a derogatory term or stuff like that.

00:36I think a lot of people were just using that definition as a way to be like, well, I'm

00:40not, I'm not racist because I don't say the N word or I'm not racist because I don't think

00:47I'm any better.

00:48I did the little contact us about a word thing that was on there and I just sent out the

00:54email and I just say that racism is a lot more than your definition describes and you

01:00should really include those systemic aspects.

01:03I think if you're really trying to be diverse and if diversity and inclusion is really your

01:07main thing, then you guys should also look at those minorities and see how they're using

01:12the word.

01:13We've experienced racism that's that way.

01:15We have the data to back up racism in our healthcare field with the disproportionate

01:20rates that black mothers are, you know, die during child care.

01:24We have mass incarceration that's, you know, people of color are in jails like at three

01:31times the rate as their white counterparts.

01:33So I mean, it's not, I'm like, I didn't create this narrative.

01:41We always are looking up different words to understand better.

01:45And I think that especially right now, we're all, we're all just trying to understand better.

01:51So if someone is looking up the word racism and, you know, it's not accurate, then that

01:57just that does nothing to help the situation that does nothing to push us forward.

02:01It just keeps us stagnant.

02:03Teachers calling you a different black girl's name every five seconds whenever you raised

02:08your hand or, you know, classmates just ignoring your opinion and dismissing it or just, or

02:13asking you, oh, do you think you need any help?

02:16When at the end of the day, I, I'm just as capable if not more than they are.

02:21So I really think that it's important to acknowledge those microaggressions because especially

02:27in our climate now, you know, it's not, you have a lot of social consequences for being

02:32blatantly racist, but then things that are more covert, like microaggressions, there's

02:38no, no responsibility for them.

02:43A lot of companies are trying to, you know, understand or just are trying to change their

03:00policies.

03:01I think that it should have been done a while ago.

03:03I mean, the Black Lives Matter movement has been around for a while now, and it was kind

03:09of controversial for a lot of people to, you know, back up it, back it up.

03:14In my own community, words are really important.

03:17I mean, they've been used to deprive people, like words like thug and words like ghetto

03:23and a lot of these that have negative, negative associations.

03:27I think that it's really, it's really important to change those narratives and to keep, and

03:33to just so we can move forward at the end of the day, you're, everyone is contributing

03:38to these systems of oppression.

03:40Everyone needs to unlearn a lot of these racist structures and learn and actually reach out

03:46and learn about what, what has really happened in this world to cause all these divides.

03:51We always need to acknowledge the history behind it, I think.

03:55And I think that's what racism didn't do at all.

03:58So I'm glad that they did change it, because words really matter.

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