For additional definitions of terms, check out these resources from universities, racial justice organizations, and the US government.
Defining racism can be challenging and contentious — the dictionary definition is cited often in online debate, yet the most basic definitions often define racism as simple acts of bias or prejudice, individual rather than systemic. While individual acts of racism can be damaging, violent, or deadly, it is systemic and institutional racism that impacts the way the victim of racism is treated in everyday life or in the aftermath of harmful or fatal acts of racism. Below are some definitions of racism that look at the issue holistically and what it means in the US and in other countries in which white officials and individuals have an outsize impact, even if in the numerical minority.
Racism is the "pervasive, deep-rooted, and longstanding exploitation, control and violence directed at People of Color, Native Americans, and Immigrants of Color that produce the benefits and entitlements that accrue to white people, particularly to a white male dominated ruling class." Also known as white supremacy. (SURJ: Racism 101)
Racism is "different from racial prejudice, hatred, or discrimination. Racism involves one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination through the institutional policies and practices of the society and by shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices." (DismantlingRacism.org: What is Racism?)
“Racism, specifically, is the state-sanctioned or extralegal production and exploitation of group-differentiated vulnerability to premature death.” (Ruth Wilson Gilmore: Golden Gulag)
Anti-Racism - The active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably." (NAC International Perspectives: Women & Global Solidarity)
Bias - an inclination of temperament or outlook especially a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment; prejudice (Merriam-Webster)
BIPOC - Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; the term used "to highlight the unique relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context." (The BIPOC Project)
Colorism - A practice of discrimination by which BIPOC with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. This practice is a product of racism in the United States, in that it upholds the white standards of beauty and benefits white people in the institutions of oppression. (NCCJ)
Cultural Appropriation- Theft of cultural elements for one's own use, commodification, or profit — including symbols, art, language, customs, etc. — often without understanding, acknowledgement, or respect for its value in the original culture. Results from the assumption of a dominant (i.e. white) culture's right to take other cultural elements. (Colours of Resistance)
DEI - Short for diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI is often discussed in corporate and academic administration. Its efficacy can be questionable, particularly when white members of management rely on uncompensated labor by BIPOC colleagues and subordinates.
Intersectionality - A lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects. (Kimberlé Crenshaw)
Marginalized Communities - Groups confined to the lower or peripheral edge of institutions, employers, and local/state/federal governments, whose presence and input may be invisible, unwelcome, and/or actively discouraged. Some examples of marginalized communities are: Native/Indigenous Americans, Muslims, LGBTQ (particularly trans umbrella identities, bisexual people), Black people, and immigrants (particularly non-white immigrants).
Performative Allyship/Wokeness - Signaling you’ve got the “social justice know-how” for the sake of your own self-image. Also known as virtue signaling. (Jenna M. Gray)
Racial Capitalism- The system of capitalism evolved to produce a system "dependent on slavery, violence, imperialism, and genocide." (Cedric Robinson)
Racism - the "pervasive, deep-rooted, and longstanding exploitation, control and violence directed at People of Color, Native Americans, and Immigrants of Color that produce the benefits and entitlements that accrue to white people, particularly to a white male dominated ruling class." Also known as white supremacy. (SURJ: Racism 101)
School-to-Prison Pipeline - Policies that encourage police presence at schools, harsh tactics including physical restraint, and automatic punishments that result in suspensions and out-of-class time are huge contributors to the pipeline (Teaching Tolerance)
Segregation de facto - Segregation by common understanding and personal choice. The direct manifestation of de jure segregation, because the U.S. government could mandate that laws that segregated the races were unconstitutional, but it couldn’t change the hearts and minds of its people. (The Ed Advocate)
Segregation de jure - Legalized segregation of Black and White people, e.g. Jim Crow laws. (The Ed Advocate)
Spiritual Bypassing - Avoiding, denying, or otherwise minimizing the real lived experience of other humans by applying spiritual concepts that keep groups or individuals from having to sit with pain or discomfort. (Rose Hahn)
Transracial - Involving, encompassing, or extending across two or more races. Used in an adoption context, primarily to indicate children of color adopted into white families, or to indicate parenting a multiracial family. Does not indicate a change in races. (Merriam Webster, Lisa Marie Rollins)
White Privilege - The set of social and economic advantages that white people have by virtue of their race in a culture characterized by racial inequality (Merriam Webster)
Woke - Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice). (Merriam Webster)
