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Ethnographic Moment: Navajo Nation Changing Racial Terminology In Response To Black Lives Matter Protests, Dani M. Austin

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

"Given Navajo Nation debates about changing racial terminology in response to Black Lives Matter protests, I will argue that modification of Diné Bizaad (Diné Bizaad means Navajo Language) is a progressive and positive shift. Language is constantly changing across social groups and time. From generation to generation, words take on different meanings. Words are invented and acquired from a variety of sources. Furthermore, unused words can expire from everyday usage. How do shifts in language occur?"