Resources

DEFINITIONS:

Anti-Racism: Anti-racism is 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."

SOURCE: NAC International Perspectives: Women and Global Solidarity, cited by the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Center.

Anti-racist: An anti-racist is someone who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing antiracist ideas. This includes the expression or ideas that racial groups are equals and do not need developing, and supporting policies that reduce racial inequity.

SOURCE: Ibram X Kendi, How to be an Antiracist, Random House, 2019

Bigotry: Bigotry is the intolerance of the ideas of others and the uncritical and rigid devotion to one's own opinions. It is often manifested in the hatred or intolerance of an entire group, often different from oneself.

Discrimination: Discrimination is the unequal treatment of members of various groups based on their identity (e.g. race, gender, social class, and other categories).

Diversity: Diversity is quantitative and speaks to who we are. Diversity is the entire range of human differences that includes but is not limited to race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, physical and cognitive abilities, religious affiliation, ethical values, national origin and political beliefs.

Equality: Equality is providing the same level of opportunity and assistance to all segments of society, such as races and genders.

Equity: Equity means providing various levels of support and assistance to members of society, depending on their specific needs or abilities, so that they can develop to their full potential.

Inclusion: Inclusion is qualitative. Inclusion is the deliberate act of welcoming diversity and it recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of all people. An inclusive school promotes and sustains a sense of belonging; it values and respects the talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of living of its community members so that all different kinds of people can thrive and succeed.

Privilege: Privilege is an advantage, formally or informally, that benefits a person or group and tends to be associated with wealth and social class. However, it does not only come from wealth. Privilege is often invisible to those who have it, and so people who are privileged often contribute to and perpetuate, intentionally or not, the oppression of others. A person can experience both privilege and its lack because of different aspects of their identity.

Race: Race is a social and political concept, not a scientific one. Categorizations of race were invented to support worldviews that viewed some groups of people as superior and some inferior. There are three important concepts linked to this fact:

• Race is a made-up construct, and not an actual biological fact.

• Race designations have changed over time. Some groups that are considered “white” in the United States today were considered “non-white” in previous eras, in the U.S. Census data and in mass media and popular culture (for example, Irish, Italian, and Jewish people).

• The way in which racial categorizations are enforced has also changed over time. For example, the racial designation of Asian American and Pacific Islander changed four times in the 19th century.

SOURCE: PBS, Race: Power of an Illusion

Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice (Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers, 2002), p.141.

Racism: Racism is a system that encompasses economic, political, social, and cultural structures, actions, and beliefs that institutionalize and perpetuate an unequal distribution of privileges, resources and power between White people and people of Color. This system is historic, normalized, taken for granted, deeply embedded, and works to the benefit of Whites and to the disadvantage of People of Color (Hilliard, 1992).

SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity): The National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity)SM partners with schools, organizations, and communities to develop leaders who guide their peers in conversational communities to drive personal, organizational, and societal change toward social justice. The purpose of these learning spaces is to create an effective environment for learning and flourishing where curricula, teaching methods, and workplace practices are gender fair, multiculturally equitable, socioeconomically aware, and globally informed. National SEED project website

Social Justice: Social justice includes a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure.

SOURCE: Maurine Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin, editors. Teaching for Diversity and Justice: a Sourcebook.

Systems of Oppression:  Systemic Oppression is the disadvantaging of groups of people based on their identity while advantaging members of the dominant group.