Is there racism in the Dictionary?

Question

When you look up BLACK in the dictionary you see words like sullen, wicked, dirty, soiled. Then you see that the word BLACK is associated with Black people (www.m-w.com/dictionary/black)

When you look up WHITE in the dictionary you see words like innocent, favorable, passionate, fortunate,fortunate, pure. then you see that the word White is associated with white people or people with pigmentation of the skin (www.m-w.com/dictionary/white)

The subconscious mind is known to make links between words (word association) and it it is obvious that racist links can be made if a person with little English knowledge was to read the definition of BLACK and WHITE.

White people=innocent-pure-favorable-fortunate-passionate
Black people=sullen-wicked-dirty-soiled

I have experienced this type of word association with some of my Indonesian students who are learning English.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Dictionary is meant to give you all the meanings of the word. Those meanings are not necessarily connected.
I think that your task is to explain that to your students.
Also, if you think better, people known as "white" are never really white (except albinos, but that's a consequence of an illness) - they have pink to light brown skin (read the definition of the "caucasian" in your dictionary). And people known as "black" are almost never really black ("charcoal" black) - their skin have different shades of brown.
The connections you made are nothing more than taking words out of the context. You can do the same with the most entries in the dictionary.

Answer 2

It's not the dictionary that is racist. Those are correct definitions of the words.

Black has long been associated with evil, and white with good. This does not directly relate to skin color. Such definitions were made before the advent of modern racism.

In fact, the negative associations with the word "black" were used to fuel negative racist feelings towards those with darker skin color in the past, and still are today. But this is not the reason that those colors have such symbolism.

It is unfortunate that people often make such a connection, but it isn't really the fault of the dictionary. You'll see that the definitions are separate: one definition for symbolic meaning, and another for skin color. They are no more intrinsicly related than "bob" meaning to bounce in the water and Bob the name of a person.

The fault lies in human nature, and our tendancy to jump to conclusions too quickly. I would say the best thing to do is to explain to the students in simple and clear terms that different definitions in a dictionary bear no relation to each other. You can demonstrate with other words, such as fluke and bank.

Answer 3

It's just an easy descriptive term. What would you rather refer to people as? There are many people that refer to 'white' people as caucasian, and to 'black' people as African. I'm a white South African, so techincally, I'm an African. People who are 'black' and have never been to Africa still get called 'Africans' (Personally I have no problem with this, I'm just illustrating how any term you use can be misunderstood) so do we call them 'Of African descent?' 'Black' and 'White' are just terms- some people might associate certain (possibly negative) things with these terms, but somehow I doubt that the type of people who judge like that are going to change their minds based on the term used.

Answer 4

White people=innocent-pure-favorable...
Black people=sullen-wicked-dirty-soi...

it's a state of the mind and personal experience

Answer 5

Why is left sinister?

Lets swap things around

Black Belt
Lily-White

Answer 6

I think you need to take your meds.

Answer 7

i think its hella pimp cuz negros do steal ****