Anti-Racism Glossary
As people around the world demand justice and racial equality for Black people, some unfamiliar and occasionally misunderstood terms have moved into the mainstream. To promote a better understanding, here’s a brief glossary from the Anti-Racism Toolkit from Georgetown University:
Anti-racism is the practice of actively opposing racism in all aspects of life. This includes politics, economics, culture, and society.
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Anti-racist: A person who actively practices anti-racism.
Ally: A person who makes an intentional decision to understand, empathize, and act in support of others.
Allyship is not an identity. It’s a lifelong journey of commitment and practice. Allyship is an informed, consistent, and empathetic practice to uphold a culture of inclusion.
A guide to allyship and the
state of inclusion today
BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of color. The term is intended to acknowledge that not all people of color (POC) face the same levels of injustice. By listing out Black and Indigenous, the term emphasizes that people from these specific communities face different, and often more severe, forms of injustice and oppression. Some members of racial and ethnic communities oppose the use of this term as it suggests a uniform experience among all people who are not white and perpetuates the belief that people who are not white are intrinsically different or alien.
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Black Lives Matter is an international movement formed to address systemic racism and violence against Black people. The Black Lives Matter Global Network was founded in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
About Black Lives Matter
Institutional racism is defined as racist policies and practices built into organizations and institutions, such as schools, the legal system, and law enforcement.
5 examples of institutional racism
Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers such as race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and religion, do not exist independently of each other. Each of us has a myriad of identities, and those identities overlap and intersect in dynamic ways. The effects of bias, prejudice, and disadvantages may be compounded by overlapping identities. Understanding intersectionality is to understand the variety of privileges and/or forms of oppression that one may experience simultaneously at any given time.
Micromessages are small, subtle messages we send and receive verbally and non-verbally. They can be negative or positive.
Microaggressions are negative and can cause exclusion, while
microaffirmations are positive and can encourage feelings of inclusion.
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Privilege is the set of advantages, entitlements, and benefits granted only to a person or group of people exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others. Some who experience such privilege do so without being aware of the discrepancies in experiences, access, or opportunities.
Systemic racism, sometimes referred to as structural racism, encompasses the overarching system of racial bias across all aspects of our society, including history, culture, politics, and economics. All other types of racism, such as interpersonal and institutional racism, emerge from systemic racism. For example, redlining was a system that limited Black people’s access to home ownership, locking them out of a major pathway to wealth—an economic disadvantage that can take generations to dissipate.
Video series about systemic racism
Unconscious bias, or
implicit bias, is a preference for or against a person or group that one is not aware of having, but nevertheless is communicated through language and behavior. We can counteract and mitigate our unconscious biases by recognizing how they affect others and making the effort to change our language and behavior.
Tips to fighting bias
White privilege is the unearned set of advantages, entitlements, and benefits granted specifically to white people over other racial groups, which is reinforced throughout many societal structures.
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Video Resource:
Meet the Authors- Matters of Choice: Puerto Rican Women’s Struggle for Reproductive Freedom | by Iris LópezCentro de Estudios Puertorriqueños
Resources in Spanish:
Desarrollo y Política Económica en América Latina – Un sitio para discusión y comentario sobre el desarrollo de América Latina y las políticas económicas adoptadas a partir de la década de 1980. Moderado por el economista de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Luis Sánchez-Masi, en este sitio se podrá acceder a una variedad de documentos e información estadística sobre el desarrollo de América Latina en el contexto mundial. Entre los libros más recientes de Luis Sánchez-Masi se encuentran Política Alternativa para el Desarrollo Latinoamericano (2019) y América Latina en su Laberinto (2020).
Latin American History Commons:
Organizations of Indigenous Communities in connection with the Smithsonian Institute:
https://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/indivisible/latin_american.html
https://pulitzercenter.org/indigenous-communities?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=20200704IndigenousPortalLaunch
Faculty Publications:
-Iris Lopez, PhD. Program Director.
Matters of Choice: Puerto Rican Women’s Struggle for Reproductive Freedom. Rutgers University Press (December, 2008).
“Reflection and Rebirth: The Evolving Life of a Latina Academic.” Telling To Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios. Co-authored with the Latina Feminist Group. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001.
Bibliographic Essay And Annotated Bibliography: El Aborto En Puerto Rico. Co-authored with A. Colon, A.L. Davila, M.Fernos and E. Vicente, Puerto Rico: Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, Recinto de Rio Piedras: 1-131.
Monograph Co-authored with F. Caro, E. Marshall, A. Carter, D. Kalmuss and D. Darabi, Barriers to Prenatal Care: An Examination of the Use of Prenatal Care Among Low-Income Women in New York City. New York: Community Service Society: 1-115. 1988
-Sherrie Baver, PhD. Professor.
Baver, Sherrie L., Angelo Falcón, and Gabriel Haslip-Viera (eds.). 2017. Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition. 2nd Edition. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Baver, Sherrie L. and Barbara Deutsch Lynch (eds.). 2006. Beyond Sun and Sand: Caribbean Environmentalisms. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Gabriel Haslip-Viera and Sherrie Baver L. (eds.). 1996. Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition. 1st Edition. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Baver, Sherrie L. 1993. The Political Economy of Colonialism: The State and Industrialization in Puerto Rico. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
-Gabriel Haslip-Viera, PhD. Professor Emeritus.
Race, Identity and Indigenous Politics: Puerto Rican Neo Taínos in the Diaspora and the Island. Latino Studies Press, 2013.
Crime and Punishment in Late Colonial Mexico City, 1692-1810. University of New Mexico Press, 1999.
Co-edited with Angelo Falcón and Félix Matos Rodríguez. Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City. Markus Wiener, 2004.
Editor. Taino Revival: Critical Perspectives on Puerto Rican Identity and Cultural Politics. Markus Wiener, 2001.
Co-edited with Sherrie L. Baver. Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition. University of Notre Dame Press, 1996.
Resources: World Scholar and Latin America & the Caribbean
https://worldscholar-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/region/latin-america?p=LACD%3ALACP&u=cuny_ccny
Somos en Escrito: The Latino Literary Online Magazine https://somosenescrito.weebly.com/
Chapters from Textbooks:
Hatfield, C. (1997). The limits of identity : Politics and poetics in latin america.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ccny-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4401774
Swanson, Philip. The Companion to Latin American Studies. Routledge, 2003.
https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=886dea44-0430-4ad3-afef-ea67e614374a%40pdc-v-sessmgr05&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=327743&db=e000xna
Ching, Erik, et al. Reframing Latin America. University of Texas Press, 2009. Chapter 5.8
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ccny-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3443222