Glossary

AAVE: African American Vernacular English (Me and White Supremacy- Layla F.Saad)

Actor: The actions of an Actor do not disrupt the status quo, much the same as a spectator at a game, both have only a nominal effect in shifting an overall outcome. Systems of oppression are challenged when actors shift or couple their actions with those from Allies and/or Accomplices. The actions of an Actor do not explicitly name or challenge the pillars of cultural supremacy which is necessary for meaningful progress towards social justice.

Ally: typically considered a verb - one needs to act as an ally, and cannot bestow this title upon themselves. The actions of an Ally have greater likelihood to challenge institutionalized injustice. An Ally is like a disrupter and educator in spaces dominated by injustice. An Ally might find themselves at a social gathering in which something inappropriate is being talked about. Instead of allowing that space to incubate injustice, the Ally wisely disrupts the conversation, and takes the opportunity to educate those present.

Ally Cookies: Praise or other rewards for “not being racist.” Usually sought out by people with white privilege performing optical allyship. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Optical Allyship: The visual illusion of allyship without the actual work of allyship. Also known as performative allyship or ally theater. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Performative allyship: taking up space rather than giving space

Accomplice: The actions of an Accomplice are meant to directly challenge institutionalized injustice by blocking or impeding unjust people, policies, and structures. Accomplices’ actions are informed by, directed and often coordinated with leaders who are of marginalized groups. Accomplices actively listen with respect, and understand that oppressed people are not monolithic in their tactics and beliefs. Accomplices aren’t motivated by personal guilt or shame.

Anti-Blackness: Defined by Merriam-Webster as being opposed to or hostile toward Black people. Anti-Blackness or anti-Black racism can be found all around the world. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

BIWOC: Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Blackface: Wearing dark makeup to caricature a Black person. Its origins can be found in American minstrel shows of the nineteenth century where white actors wore dark face paint to depict racist caricatures of enslaved and free Black people on stage. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Blackfishing: The use of artificial tanning and makeup by people with white privilege to make their skin look darker and give the impression that they are of African descent. A modern form of blackface. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Cisgender: A term for people whose gender identity matches the biological sex they were assigned at birth. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Colorism: A term coined by author Alice Walker in her book In Search of our Mothers’ Gardens. Walker defined colorism as the “prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color.” Colorism is where prejudicial treatment is given to darker-skinned Black people and People of Color and preferential treatment is given to lighter-skinned Black people and People of Color. (Me & W. S.: Saad). Also recognized as internalized racism (How to Be an Antiracist.: Kendi)

Cultural Appropriation: A modern type of colonization that involves the appropriation and sometimes commercialization of cultural practices, spiritual traditions, hair and dress fashion styles, speaking styles, and other cultural elements. Cultural appropriation happens when there is an imbalance of power and privilege-- a dominant or privileged culture appropriates from a nondominant or marginalized culture. Cultural appropriation does not work the other way around. BIPOC cannot appropriate from white people because BIPOC do not hold collective power and privilege over white people. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Digital Blackface: In the digital world, the use of emojis, GIFs, and memes featuring Black people by people who hold white privilege. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Ethnicity: the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition. (Oxford Languages)

Followership: our capacity and willingness (as white people) to take direction from BIPOC in anti-racist work.

Implicit Bias: bias that results from the tendency to process information based on unconscious associations and feelings, even when these are contrary to one’s conscious or declared beliefs. (dictionary.com) Research on “implicit bias” suggests that people can act on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes without intending to do so. (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicit-bias/)

Intersectionality: A term coined by law professor and civil rights advocate Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw. It is a framework that helps us to explore the dynamic between coexisting identities and connected systems of oppression, particularly as it relates to gender and race and the experiences of Black women. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Microaggression: a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority. (Oxford Languages)

Misogynoir: A term coined by African American feminest scholar, writer, and activist Moya Bailey to describe misogyny directed specifically toward Black women. The intersection of sexism and anti-Black racism. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Race: the idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences. Genetic studies in the late 20th century refuted the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that “races” are cultural interventions reflecting specific attitudes and beliefs that were imposed on different populations in the wake of western European conquests beginning in the 15th century. (Encyclopedia Britannica) “But race is the child of racism, not the father” -Ta-Nehisi Coates. A power construct of collected or merged difference that lives socially. (How to Be an Antiracist.: Kendi)

Anti-racism: the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance. (Oxford Dictionary) Ibram X. Kendi argues that there is no such thing as non-racist -- just racist and anti-racist.

Covert Racism: Covert racism is a form of racial discrimination that is disguised and subtle, rather than public or obvious. Concealed in the fabric of society, covert racism discriminates against individuals through often evasive or seemingly passive methods.

Non-racism: “I define non-racism as the passive rejection, opposition and disassociation from behaviors, discourses, and ideologies that are considered racist (Bery, 2014; King & Chandler, 2016). Non-racist frameworks situate racism as extreme, overt, highly visible behaviors that consist of irrational and independent actions of individuals.” (But I Don’t See Color.: King)

Systemic (institutional) racism: Institutional racism is a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power and education, among other issues.

Tokenism: Defined by Oxford Dictionaries as “the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality within the workforce. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Tone Policing: A tactic used by those who have white privilege to silence those who do not by focusing on the tone of what is being said rather than the actual content. Tone policing does not only have to be spoken out loud publicly. People with white privilege often tone police BIPOC in their thoughts or behind closed doors. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

Voluntourism: The trend and business of volunteer tourism, where people with privilege from Western countries travel to do charity volunteer work in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Voluntourism has been criticized for perpetuating white saviorism. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Apathy: A feeling of apathy, indifference, unconcern, detachment, dispassion, and disregard about racism by people with white privilege. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Centering: The centering of whiteness and white people, white values, white norms, and white feelings over everything and everyone else. The belief, whether conscious or not, that whiteness is “normal” and BIPOC are “other.” (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Exceptionalism: The belief that people with white privilege are exempt from white supremacy. The belief of being “one of the good ones.” (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Feminism: A feminism that focuses on the struggle of white women. It is feminism that is only concerned with disparities and oppression of gender (usually cisgender) but does not take into account disparities and oppression of other intersections that are just as important, including race, class, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Fragility: A phrase coined by author Robin DiAngelo, defined as “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves.” (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Gaze: The white supremacist lens through which people with white privilege see BIPOC. The white gaze also describes how BIPOC are defined, limited, stereotyped, and judged in the white imagination, usually to the detriment of BIPOC. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Privilege: A phrase coined by Peggy McIntosh in her 1988 paper “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies” and defined as follows: “I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible, weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Saviorism: A colonialist idea that assumes that BIPOC need white people to save them, that without whtie intervention, instruction, and guidance, BIPOC will be left helpless, and that without whiteness, BIPOC, who are seen and treated as inferior to people with white privilege, will not survive. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Silence: Occurs when people with white privilege stay complicity silent when it comes to issues of race. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Superiority: The erroneous, violent, and racist idea that people with white or white-passing skin are superior to and therefore deserve to dominate over people with brown or black skin. (Me & W. S.: Saad)

White Supremacy: the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially the black race, and should therefore dominate society. (Oxford Languages)