This is a glossary of terms Patrons have identified as terms particularly relevant to the conversations they’re having and the work they’re doing. I’ve pulled from both traditional resources as well as relevant articles.
One other glossary I’d recommend utilizing, which is used for some of the terms below, is Racial Equity Tools’ Glossary.
I hope you find this useful.
a form of racial prejudice where children of minority groups, such as African American girls, are treated as being more mature than they actually are by a reasonable social standard of development. source
a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people. It is not self-defined—work and efforts must be recognized by those you are seeking to ally with. It is an opportunity to grow and learn about ourselves, whilst building confidence in others. source
the process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society. The process of assimilating involves taking on the traits of the dominant culture to such a degree that the assimilating group becomes socially indistinguishable from other members of the society. As such, assimilation is the most extreme form of acculturation. source
refers to black, indigenous, and other people of color and aims to emphasize the historic oppression of black and indigenous people. source
is a skin color-based classification for specific people with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all black people have dark skin; in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification in the Western World, the term "black" is used to describe persons who are perceived as dark-skinned compared to other populations. It is mostly used for people of Sub-Saharan African descent and the indigenous peoples of Oceania. Indigenous African societies do not use the term black as a racial identity outside of influences brought by Western cultures. The AP Stylebook, a highly influential source used by many news organizations, government, and public relations agencies, changed its guide to capitalize the "b" in Black. source
also known in some regions as First peoples, First Nations, Aboriginal peoples or Native peoples or autochthonous peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original or earliest known inhabitants of an area, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. Groups are usually described as indigenous when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region.[1] Not all indigenous peoples share this characteristic, as many have adopted substantial elements of a colonizing culture, such as dress, religion or language. Indigenous peoples may be settled in a given region (sedentary) or exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory, but they are generally historically associated with a specific territory on which they depend. Indigenous societies are found in every inhabited climate zone and continent of the world except Antarctica. source
The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. source
The term is used to describe the first-hand accounts and impressions of living as a member of a minority or oppressed group. When women talk about what it's like to be female in a predominantly male geek community, they are describing their lived experiences. source
the everyday, subtle, intentional — and oftentimes unintentional — interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups. source
an apathy toward systems of racial advantage or denial that those systems even exist. source
the practice of words, posts and gestures that do more to promote an individual's own virtuous moral compass than actually helping the causes that they're intending to showcase. In some scenarios, performative allyship can also directly hinder actual activists who are on the ground and doing the sustained, continual work. source
primarily used to describe any person who is not considered white in the United States. During various periods in US history, persons of color included African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islander Americans, Middle Eastern Americans and others. The term emphasizes common experiences of systemic racism. The term may also be used with other collective categories of people such as "communities of color", "men of color" (MOC), and "women of color" (WOC). source
polite racism - often informed by the mistaken idea that in order to do or say something racist, one must be consciously racist and ill-intentioned, this is when being polite allows a white person to still act in a racist manner without realizing the racist impact of their actions. [Note: this is my own personal definition of the term] reference
a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally viewed as distinct by society. Modern scholarship regards race as a social construct, an identity which is assigned based on rules made by society. While partially based on physical similarities within groups, race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning. Although still used in general contexts, race has often been replaced by less ambiguous and loaded terms: populations, people(s), ethnic groups, or communities, depending on context. source
a structure, not an event, when a group’s collective prejudice is backed by cultural norms and institutional control. It is a system of advantage based on race. Those advantages are known as white privilege, advantages taken for granted by whites and not enjoyed in the same context as people of color.
a structure, not an event, when a group’s collective prejudice is backed by cultural norms and institutional control. It is a system of advantage based on race. Those advantages are known as white privilege, advantages taken for granted by whites and not enjoyed in the same context as people of color. video source
anything that produces or sustains racial inequity between or among racial groups, like racist policies. Policies are written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations and guidelines that govern people. There is no such thing as a nonracist or or race-neutral policy. Every policy in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups. Racist policies are also expressed through other terms such as “structural racism” or “systemic racism”. source
when members of majority groups focus on the language and perceived emotion of marginalised or underrepresented groups during discussions of inequality. The majority group sees themselves as entitled to infer “illegitimate” arguments based solely on the words being used, rather than the meaning of what is being said. This is an attempt to silence or derail discussions, to shift power away from the lived experiences and knowledge of minorities or disempowered groups. source
A sub-category of whatboutism where the perpetrator of the whatboutism is white, white-passing, or is in relative proximity to whiteness, and uses the logical fallacy in an attempt to discredit white allies and accomplices, Indigenous folx, people of color, and especially Black people in conversations about racism and white supremacy
a white person’s conscious willingness and ongoing work to increasingly challenge the status quo of white comfort, as well to displace whiteness. [original definition]
discomfort and defensiveness on the part of a white person when confronted by information about racial inequality and injustice. source
when people view Black creations [and lives] under the scope of white ethnocentrism, which involves the idea of looking at one’s own culture as the highest standard of “good” culture. Popular music critics and old plantation overseers both share this socio-cultural lens. This select outlook relates race in real time and represents the relationship between the Black experience and its context in America. An overseer sees a Black woman as a vehicle to carry out white supremacy. They believe the ability to decide the cultural/political worth of a Black person is warranted by matter of their own white existence. The white music critic treats his opinion on Black content as law. Black people can never escape the scope of white ethnocentrism in America. source
a shorthand for the privileges/power that people who appear white receive because they are not subjected to the racism faced by BIPOCs. source
Refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it. source
a white person’s unconscious resistance to the status quo of white comfort being challenged and whiteness being displaced. [original definition]
sometimes combined with savior complex to write white savior complex, refers to a white person who provides help to non-white people in a self-serving manner. source
a white ally in a racial justice movement who gives Black people and organizations unwanted advice. This is especially prone to happen when white allies and non-Black POCs are talking amongst themselves. [original definition]
when white people who bear witness to the pain and trauma of BIPOCs and don’t say anything about it. source
the idea (ideology) that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions. While most people associate white supremacy with extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis, white supremacy is ever present in our institutional and cultural assumptions that assign value, morality, goodness, and humanity to the white group while casting people and communities of color as worthless (worth less), immoral, bad, and inhuman and "undeserving." Drawing from critical race theory, the term "white supremacy" also refers to a political or socio-economic system where white people enjoy structural advantage and rights that other racial and ethnic groups do not, both at a collective and an individual level. source
The degree to which whiteness can be harmful to the mental, emotional, and even physical well-being of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Indicators of white toxicity in the behavior of white people include but are not limited to white fragility, microaggressions, tokenizing, gatekeeping, stereotyping, gaslighting, unconscious bias, controlling the narrative, taking instead of making space, focusing on intent rather than impact, and treating any given identity like a monolith. [original definition]
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