ragalion

While I was looking up a word in the Official Scrabble Dictionary, I came across another one, a racial slur.

I was glad that my regular Scrabble opponent hadn’t seen it. She’s my eleven year old niece.

I’m not angry with Hasbro, the company that makes Scrabble. I genuinely believe that they were unaware of the hurtful nature of this word.

The word that I encountered by accident was “mulatto.”

“Mulatto” is a racial slur with origins in the word “mule”. One of my parents is Black, and the other is White. That makes me biracial.

Hopefully you knew that, but many people don’t. I’ve had to tell near strangers and even close friends that I’m not “mulatto.”

I wrote a polite email to Hasbro, and I’m pleased with their response. They have promised that upper management has begun reviewing the situation. They also gave me their phone number, Merriam Webster’s phone number, and a sincere apology.

I’ll still check up on their progress of course.

I’m not being politically correct. If someone found what my Mom calls “The Big N” and objected to this, would he or she be PC?

I just don’t want me or other biracial people (including kids) to be insulted for existing. I’m also not promoting censorship. Other racial slurs aren’t in current dictionaries.

I’m doing my part to remove a racial slur from a dictionary. Once “mulatto” no longer appears in dictionaries, people will slowly stop using it by accident. I know that this will take time. That’s okay.

Even if no one knows what I did, I’m still fighting racism. I’m going to continue doing my part to battle ignorance and hate.

Maya Walker, a Renegade of Funk

“History is written by the victors. So let’s make sure we win!”
-Maya Walker