Yeah, I largely agree with your comment, especially that the issue is usage rather than the dictionary definition. But of course, just as society shapes us, we shape the way words are defined. Note that thanks to years of misuse, "literally" is now its own antonym.

So while you may have believed the words meant what they described above and I would largely agree, somebody else might have thought very differently. Listen to this definition of racism by Ibram X Kendi himself for example:

https://twitter.com/steevqj/status/1403709968692428803?s=20

I think that a lot of the obfuscation of meaning is deliberate to keep people unsure of what they need to do to escape the dreaded accusation of racism. That way it's easier to get them to do as they're told.