Antiracism and Racism Glossary

Increasing Student Success

Antiracism and Racism

The following is an essential collection of terms related to antiracism and racism. More comprehensive glossaries on this topic are available from Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (2020), Diversity Advisory Council (n.d.), Georgetown University Library (2020), Institute for Democratic Renewal and Project Change Anti-Racism Institute (2019), Pokhrel et al., (2021), Race Forward (2015), Sue, Williams, & Owens (2021) and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (n.d.). Complete references to these glossaries and often an online link to them are found in the reference section at the end of this glossary.

ally

According to Pokhrel et al. (2021, pp. 77–78):

1. Definitions: (a) “A person who supports a group other than their own identities, such as gender, RACE, religion, and sex” (Berkner Boyt, 2020, para. 10); and (b) A person who acknowledges disadvantages and oppression of other groups and takes action to stand with them and oppose the oppression (Wenger, n.d., p. 164).

2. Examples: (a) Speaking up on behalf of people of color (POC) during conversations when others make disparaging comments, MICROAGGRESSION behaviors, jokes, or stereotypical statements whether POC are present or not (Davis, 1989); (b) Participating in meetings hosted by POC that raise awareness about issues of identity (racial, sexual, etc.); (c) Displaying posters that advocate for social justice on the learning center walls; (d) Displaying a welcome poster on the learning center wall with the word “welcome” in languages spoken by members of the student body; (e) Asking questions of POC “like ‘what do I need to know,’ ‘how can I help,’ and ‘what can we do together?’” (Ludema & Johnson, 2020, Don’t be paternalistic section); (f) Taking time to read books and watch videos on racial topics (history, slavery, systemic racism, etc.) and avoid asking POC to explain complex racial issues to you; (g) Marching in a Pride Parade to advocate for an annual audit of pay equity (Ludema & Johnson, 2020, Do take ally-like actions section); (h) Taking actions that create an environment so that POC speak for themselves (Ludema & Johnson, 2020, Don’t speak for others section); (i) Responding when the leader of the campus LBGTQ affinity group contacts you to offer support to the goals of the affinity group for Black employees; (j) Using authority as the Resident Hall Assistant to confront students on the dorm floor who are dressed up as border patrol and migrants at the border and stop the activity, and using this incident as opportunity to inform all residents that this activity is not appropriate or acceptable learning opportunity (k) South Asian woman marching at various Black Lives Matter protests while holding up a sign saying “South Asians for Black Lives;” and (l) attending campus and social activities hosted by POC.

3. Compare with ANTIRACISM (verb), EQUALITY, EQUITY, and SOCIAL JUSTICE.

antiracism

According to Pokhrel et al. (2021, p. 78):

1. Definition: “The work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti-racism tends to be an individualized approach, and set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts” (Race Forward, 2015, p. 25).

2. Examples: (a) Report any acts of discrimination to the institution's Dean of Students or Title IX Officer; (b) Ensure the racial diversity of the professional staff and the student employees of the learning center equals or exceeds the diversity demographics of the student population; (c) Best practices in antiracist language and behavior is a part of all professional development and training sessions for staff and student employees of tutoring and small group study sessions.

3. Compare with ALLY, RACISM, SPACE RACISM, and SOCIAL JUSTICE.

assimilationist

According to Pokhrel et al. ( 2021, p. 79):

1. Definition: Describes the process that a dominant group makes invisible a smaller, powerless group defining characteristics and identity (Yoshino, 2013).

2. Examples: (a) Focusing on Standard Written English in school may be considered an assimilationist pedagogy, as it requires racial and ethnic groups to change or hide their linguistic heritage; (b) reminding immigrant children how fortunate they are to have arrived in the United States; (c) not permitting reading in or using language from the country of origin during class sessions; and (d) not recognizing the common experience of confusion and stressful transition for the immigrant or marginalized U.S. citizens.

3. Compare with INSTITUTIONAL RACISM, MICROAGGRESSION, and RACISM.

check your privilege

According to Pokhrel et al. (2021, pp. 79–80):

1. Definition: “When someone asks you to ‘CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE,’ they are asking you to pause and consider how the advantages you’ve had in your life are contributing to your opinions and actions, and how the lack of disadvantages in certain areas is keeping you from fully understanding the struggles others are facing and in fact may be contributing to those struggles” (Oluo, 2019, p. 63).

2. Examples: (a) A White person considering the advantages that being White affords them regarding assumptions about their creditworthiness, honesty, and trustworthiness, among others; (b) Advantages that accompany being the second generation in the family to attend or graduate from college; and (c) Having family members who can mentor a younger person as they navigate the challenges of life.

3. Compare with PRIVILEGE.

climate

According to Pokhrel et al. (2021, p. 80):

1. Definitions: (a) Perceptions and experiences by individual members of the organizational environment; and (b) influences how an individual feels valued, safe, fairly treated, and treated with dignity.

2. Examples: (a) At a learning center, staff or student of color experience a CLIMATE of hostility and unwelcomeness toward them due to the attitudes and behaviors of its staff. For example, a staff member assumes that a student of color who comes to the front desk needs a tutor when the student is actually applying for a tutoring or study group job; (b) usually, on predominantly White institutions with few faculty, staff, and administrators who are people of color, the CLIMATE is “cold” or “chilly” to Latinx students who attend class or participate in predominantly White clubs; (c) When a Black student walks into a campus honor society meeting with all White students in attendance, the White students stare at the Black student as though they are entering by mistake. The honor society president asks immediately for credentials to validate the Black student’s participation but does not ask other White applicants to validate their participation. The Black student begins to feel unwelcome, and, as a result, the events at the honor society create an atmosphere in which the Black student experiences STEREOTYPE THREAT; and (d) A Black adult male is stopped by the campus police while he is walking across the campus at night, which often happens to African, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and Latinx people. The Black male was wearing a dark pea coat and a kufi skull cap. The campus police demanded to know why he was on the campus. He replied that he just finished work after a long day as the Vice-Chancellor for Diversity Affairs and was walking home to have a late dinner with his family in his own neighborhood.

3. Compare with IMPLICIT BI...