Bigotry Definition From Oxford Now Lists Christians And Tea Party Right Wing Politics As Examples

The “bigotry” definition from Oxford American Dictionary that is available online may raise an eyebrow or two… or three, if we had them. The Oxford organization is now using Christians and conservative right wing politics as an example of what bigotry really means.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, if people think of real bigotry in America then they typically think of the Ku Klux Klan or the Westboro Baptist Church. In a strange twist, the KKK leadership would like to partner with African Americans in order to properly organize support for patrolling the Mexican border in order to prevent more illegal immigrants from entering.

I do not know how long it will be until Oxford updates their bigotry definition, but as of this writing, it still reads as I’m about to report. The basic definition is not controversial and reads: “Bigoted attitudes; intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.”

The examples are where the controversy really begins because the first one, which does not require hitting the “get more examples” link, says, “The report reveals racism and right-wing bigotry.”

In recent years, the Tea Party has become highly controversial since the groups tend to lean more toward the conservative side while even many mainstream Republicans are more in the middle on the political spectrum.

Although at first, the Tea Party was supposed to be party neutral, and was focused on lowered taxes and reduced government spending, the politicians supported by the Tea Party raised the ire of many progressives. The debate has become so intense that some liberals label anyone who consider themselves as being part of the Tea Party as being bigoted.

But Oxford does not stop there. The next two examples of the word in a sentences uses bigotry in a manner that I doubt anyone would complain about:

“There is nothing amusing about snobbery, racism, bigotry, misogyny and xenophobia…. Intolerance and racial bigotry is a destructive force that can create tensions in local communities.”

The final example for the bigotry definition choose to use Christians as an example:

“Empty churches may well be empty because of the image that we are presenting narrowness and bigotry and prejudice.”

Determining if Oxford purposefully made their bigotry definition biased (or should we say bigoted?) is difficult because further example sentences are only available with a subscription. Perhaps the additional sentences make reference to left wing politics in order to balance out their explanation, but as of now, this is what we do see in the free version:

Do you think Oxford biased their bigotry definition on purpose?