American Heritage Dictionary changes “anchor baby” definition to reflect offensive connotation
New entry for “anchor baby” reflects derogatory meaning. (Getty images)
By JUAN GASTELUM
Channel: Immigration
The American Heritage Dictionary on Monday changed its definition of “anchor baby” after receiving some criticism for including the term in its latest edition without any indication that many consider it derogatory.
The new definition reads:
Steve Kleinedler, the publication’s executive director, says the entry will also be revised in the dictionary’s next version of the print edition, which is reprinted when stocks start running low. That time, Kleinedler says, “fortunately, is now, but it’s a huge book and takes a long time.” He expects the new version will be out around April 2012.
Kleinedler says he realized the old definition was “a mistake that needed to be corrected” after a series of conversations with Mary Giovagnoli, the director of the Washington-based Immigration Policy Center.
Giovagnoli heard Kleinedler discussing the term on NPR’s Weekend Edition last week. The conversation, she told Univision News, left her feeling “curious and a little upset,” so she decided to write about it on the organization’s blog.
By friday night, her post had created a considerable amount of social media buzz, prompting Kleinedler to give her a call. The two worked together over the weekend to come up with the wording for the new definition.
“They were incredibly quick to acknowledge their mistake and just very thoughtful in taking into account the reasons why we think the term needed revision,” Giovagnoli said, adding that it was very gratifying to see such swift and concrete action.
“When you work in the non-profit world, specifically in immigration, so much of the change is incremental,” she said. “Congress just isn’t moving with this as they need to… so much of our work is about trying to put facts into a facts-free debate.”
