General Terminology
A prejudice-based action taken by one or more members of a dominant group against one or more members of a subordinate group. These actions limit another group’s opportunities, confidence, access, and ability to perform in society.
What is discrimination?
Social roles associated with specific genders that determine how individuals should live and act.
What are gender roles?
A form of prejudice or discrimination in which people are treated differently based on the social meanings attached to skin color. Typically, this form of prejudice favors individuals with lighter skin tones.
What is colorism?
A holiday in the United States celebrating the emancipation of enslaved persons in the United States. It is celebrated on a particular day in the summer, commemorating the day in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.
What is Juneteenth?
A way of referring to someone that states their humanity before their identity.
What is person-first language?
Power and advantage derived from historical oppression and exploitation of other groups. A right or immunity granted as a benefit. The power structure of organizations and governments, through their infrastructure, policies, and practices, reinforces the privileged group by advantaging them and disadvantaging others by creating barriers to attaining equal status.
What is privilege?
Words to refer to a person after initially using their name. These words include “she” and “he,” “her” and “him,” “hers” and “his,” and “herself ” and “himself.” Some people state their pronoun preferences as a form of allyship.
What are pronouns?
Discomfort and defensiveness on the part of a white person when confronted by information about racial inequality and injustice.
What is white fragility?
A type of food that follows preparation according to Jewish dietary laws.
What is kosher?
Describes individuals whose brain differences affect how they process information, learn, or behave. Includes conditions such as ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
What is neurodivergent?
A preconceived judgment or opinion regarding a person or a group based on insufficient or incorrect evidence. It can be positive or negative.
What is prejudice?
Life-saving medical care that supports transgender individuals and helps limit gender dysphoria. This can include hormone therapy, genital reconstruction, breast reconstruction, plastic surgery, speech therapy, and talk therapy.
What is gender-affirming care?
The intersectional oppression experienced by Black women and women of color.
What is misogynoir?
A month-long practice that involves fasting and abstaining from things considered to be impure for the mind and body practiced. Those partaking in this practice abstain from food, drink, and impure thoughts between the hours of sunrise and sunset, allowing them instead to focus on prayer and connecting with Allah.
What is Ramadan?
A formula that uses only health and weight to determine where an individual falls on a scale that goes from underweight to overweight. It is an antiquated tool that engrains fatphobia and medical racism and is not an accurate metric for health and wellness.
What is the Body Mass Index (BMI)?
The adoption or theft of icons, rituals, aesthetic standards, and behavior from one culture or subculture by another.
It is generally applied when the subject culture is a minority culture or somehow subordinate in social, political, economic, or military status to the appropriating culture.
What is cultural appropriation?
Among lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, this term refers to the personal acceptance and endorsement of sexual stigma as part of the individual’s value system and self-concept. It is the counterpart to sexual prejudice among heterosexuals.
What is internalized homophobia?
A legal definition referring to land located within the exterior boundaries of an Indian (Native American) Reservation.
What is Indian Country?
Describes food, especially meat, that is prepared according to Muslim dietary laws.
What is Halal?
A commonly used word in the English language that is considered offensive to people with mental health disabilities.
What is crazy?
The act of performatively or symbolically promoting diversity to prevent criticism or give the appearance of diversity without committing to or supporting genuine diversity efforts.
What is tokenism?
These terms describe the gender individuals were given when they were born based on the biological sexual characteristics displayed. These terms are used in situations where anatomy or an individual’s lived experience prior to transitioning is relevant and important.
Refers to sexual relations between women and men of different races that produce multiracial children. It can also refer to formerly illegal interracial marriage or cohabitation.
What is miscegenation?
This term refers to the normalization of Christian values, beliefs, and practices, as well as the positive and privileged platform individuals of Christian faith are afforded through institutional discourse and design.
What is Christian hegemony?
Behavior that helps the body regulate. This can include fidgeting, tapping, rocking, rubbing hands together, bouncing, flapping, and more. This is most associated with autism, but many neurodiverse individuals perform this behavior. It helps individuals regulate sensory input, stay on task, and manage anxiety.
What is stimming?