DE&I Glossary

Active Bystander - Someone that speaks up when they see a conflict or unacceptable behavior occurring. 

Bias - Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. (Oxford Dictionary)

Equality - The state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. (Oxford Dictionary)

Equity - The quality of being fair and impartial. (Oxford Dictionary) With regards to diversity, equity and inclusion; equity means to level the playing field so that everyone can have access to a place or an organization.  

Gentrification - The process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.

Internalized Racism - When a person holds certain beliefs and prejudices about themselves with regards to race. For people of color is a feeling of oppression and for Caucasians it is a feeling of superiority. (https://unitedwaysem.org/equity_challenge)

Intersectionality - The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Institutional Racism - Discriminatory practices and policies within institutions  and organizations that inhibits upward social mobility.  

Interpersonal Racism - ​​Occurs when people interact with each other and that interaction is influenced by personal bias. 

Mass Incarceration - The US criminalizes or incarcerates more of its own people than any other country in the history of the world and inflicts that enormous harm on the most vulnerable among us: poor people of color. (https://endmassincarceration.org/)

Microaggressions - A comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group. 

Racial Socialization - The process by which someone is made to identify with a particular race through social interactions and learned behaviors. 

Redlining - The discriminatory practice of denying a creditworthy applicant a loan or mortgage based on their race or ethnicity.  

School to Prison Pipeline - Children of color are punished more harshly for minor offenses and end up in the court system more often than their Caucasian counterparts.  This inhibits their ability to get a proper education and turns minority children to the streets which in turn pushes them towards prison. (https://stoprecidivism.org/blog/the-school-to-prison-pipeline/)

Structural Racism - When racism is ingrained into our  institutions, public policies and culture reinforcing the oppression of marginalized communities.  

White Privilege - The fact of people with white skin having advantages in society that other people do not have. (Cambridge Dictionary) This does not mean that white people do not have their own struggles, it just means that they do not struggle with racial issues. (PBS Kids)

White Savior Complex - When a Caucasian person or group goes into a minority neighborhood with the desire to help, but does not ask the neighborhood what exactly is needed and creates a space or dynamic that is not sustainable over the long term.