Definitions Matter

The basis of profiling and racism has been codified in the English language and should be taken into consideration as an internalized and invisible underpinning for racist and biased policies and policing making.

Definitions of Black and White from 1905 Merriam Webster:

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BLACK, blak, -adj. of the darkest color; without color; obscure; dismal: sullen: horrible -n. black color: absence of color: a negro: mourning. -v.t. to make black; to soil or stain. - adj.
Black’ish. -n Black’ness

WHITE, hwit, -adj. of the color of snow: pale: colorless: pure: unblemished: (B.) purified from sin. -n. the color of snow: anything white, as a white man, the mark at which an arrow is shot, the albuminous part of an egg. - b.t. to make white. -n. Whiteness

NEGROPHOBIA, -n The fear of negroes. (excerpt from the 1916 Merriam Webster Dictionary)