September 26, 2005
A French dictionary has been recalled after a computer error caused the publication to revert to an edition with anti-Semitic definitions. Earlier this week, MRAP, a French anti-racism association, charged that the 2005 edition of 'Le Petit Littre' had reverted to an 1874 edition that contained racist and anti-Semitic definitions for entries such as 'yellow', 'Negro' and 'Jew'. The definition of 'ghetto' reads, “neighborhood of a city inhabited by a mainly Jewish population.” MRAP expressed its 'indignation' at the publication “which considers itself a resource for cultural reference whilst being stuffed with the worst racial stereotypes one could possibly imagine”. The group called for consumers, teachers and libraries to boycott the dictionary. A computer error caused the 19th-century edition to be sent to the printer by mistake. The dictionary’s publisher said the 2006 edition would be published with a foreword explaining the evolution of these terms since the 19th century.
