RACISM - any act, belief, or practice that perpetuates the idea that one race is superior to another.
ANTIRACISM - the active practice of opposing any and all forms of racism.
WHITE SUPREMACY - the systemic belief that white and white passing individuals are inherently superior to BIPOC and therefore deserve to be prioritized as the true benefactors of societal progress, while also getting to determine what privileges BIPOC get to enjoy from themselves.
WHITE SUPERIORITY - The racist idea that white people or people with white-passing skin are superior, and therefore dominant, to those with black or brown skin.
WHITE PRIVILEGE - The unearned benefit of the doubt and access to resources given to white or white passing individuals within a white supremacist society.
WHITE SAVIORISM - The racist idea that without white intervention or guidance, BIPOC would be helpless and that helplessness is why they haven’t advanced in society. White saviorism ignores the role white people have played in the systemic and intentional denial of those very resources for the sake of easing white guilt and appearing as the hero.
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION - when a member of a systemically dominant culture takes elements of another culture whose people have been systemically prevented from celebrating or benefiting from those cultural elements by that dominant culture and and uses it for social, political, or economic gain.
PERFORMATIVE ALLYSHIP - the act of giving the appearance of engaging in allyship without having actually done the internal work to reflect one’s outwards actions. Also called optical allyship.
RACIST BYPASSING - The act of hiding behind some part of one’s identity as a reason to avoid being held accountable for one’s own racism, while pointing the finger at others whose behavior are considered worse. There are six major types: Political, Spiritual/Religious, Intersectional, Financial/Economic, Generational, and Geographical.
TOKENISM - The racist act of using one’s proximity to BIPOC bodies to benefit whiteness and white supremacy.
WHITE CENTERING - The racist idea that white experiences and whiteness is the norm and everything else is “other.”
BIPOC / BIWOC - Black, Indigenous, and People of Color / Black, Indigenous, and Womxn of Color. This acronym is used because Black and Indigenous people have unique experiences within White Supremacy that don’t mirror those of other people of color. Think the establishment of the United States Constitution and the explicit and intentional exclusion of Black and Indigenous people.
ANTI-BLACKNESS - Any act, belief, or practice that perpetuates the racist idea that blackness is inherently inferior, dangerous, and less intelligent. It manifests in small and large acts of hostility towards blackness and Black people.