I think it would be fair to say that parts of academia have redefined “racist” or “racism” in different ways, some similar to Eric’s definition. But my understanding is that they’ve done it for political (as opposed to scholarly) reasons. (Otherwise they would have created new terms to refer to their new concepts, instead of overloading an existing word.) These articles may help explain what is going on:
Thanks, I will have a look. I stand by the point that just because parts of academia may have accepted a certain definition doesn’t mean the general public has or should.
I definitely agree with that. The articles I cited make it clear that overloading the word with new definitions creates opportunities for both unintentional confusion and strategic ambiguity, as well as makes it harder to think and talk about the original concept of “racist”.
I think it would be fair to say that parts of academia have redefined “racist” or “racism” in different ways, some similar to Eric’s definition. But my understanding is that they’ve done it for political (as opposed to scholarly) reasons. (Otherwise they would have created new terms to refer to their new concepts, instead of overloading an existing word.) These articles may help explain what is going on:
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/racism-revised/
https://quillette.com/2019/01/24/the-dangers-of-defining-deviancy-up/
https://newdiscourses.com/2020/08/redefining-racism-against-activist-lexicography/
Thanks, I will have a look. I stand by the point that just because parts of academia may have accepted a certain definition doesn’t mean the general public has or should.
I definitely agree with that. The articles I cited make it clear that overloading the word with new definitions creates opportunities for both unintentional confusion and strategic ambiguity, as well as makes it harder to think and talk about the original concept of “racist”.