Antiracism Definitions
Anti-Oppression
- 鈥淎ctions that seek to provide equitable approaches and practices to mitigate the effects of Oppression鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
- 鈥淎nti-Oppression work seeks to recognize the oppression that exists in our society and attempts to mitigate its affects [sic] and eventually equalize the power imbalance in our communities鈥 (Anti-Violence Project).
Anti-racism
- 鈥淎nti-racism is a system in which we create policies, practices, and procedures to promote racial equity. Anti-racism generates antiracist thoughts and ideas to justify the racial equity it creates by uplifting the innate humanity and individuality of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color鈥 (National League of Cities).
- 鈥淎nti-racism forces us to analyze the role that institutions and systems play in the racial inequities we see, rather than assign blame to entire racial groups and their 鈥榖ehavioral differences鈥 for those inequities鈥 (National League of Cities).
- 鈥淚t is not enough to believe that being 鈥榥ot racist鈥 will eliminate racism and racial inequities. Instead, we must work within ourselves, our networks, and our institutions to challenge racism with each decision we make. The practice of anti-racism is everyone鈥檚 ongoing work鈥 (National League of Cities).
- 鈥淎nti-racism is a practice that people and institutions must continue to employ, moment by moment, to fight against the system of racism.
- Anti-racist policy creates systems that center the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, produce targeted strategies that account for the disparate harm caused these communities, and, in the end, improve outcomes for all鈥 (National League of Cities).
- An active and consistent process of change to eliminate individual, institutional, and systemic racism as well as the causes of racism, oppression, and injustice鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
- 鈥淎 lens that seeks to address and undermine racism by i. Understanding racism, prejudice,
and stereotyping;
- Moving beyond a multicultural lens of recognizing culture and difference to deal with issues of power, justice, and equity; and
- Challenging and eliminating racism at all levels from personal to systemic鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
Anti-Racist Education
- 鈥淭eaching through an anti-racist lens means helping students understand racism鈥檚 origins and guises, past and present, so they can act to disrupt White supremacy鈥 (National Education Association).
- An anti-racist education commits 鈥渢o ensuring that every student receives an education that is truthful, free from bias, liberating, and offered in a supportive, decolonized setting鈥 (The Institute for Anti-Racist Education).
Anti-Racist Policy
鈥渁ny measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups. Every policy [(written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people)] in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups鈥 (Kendi 18).
Colonialism (US Context)
鈥淭he ongoing system stemming from white supremacist ideology that codified into law the genocide of indigenous peoples, enslavement of peoples of African descent, and the privileging of white Europeans in what is now the United States鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
Colorblindness
- 鈥淭he idea that ignoring or overlooking racial and ethnic differences promotes racial harmony鈥 (Scruggs).
- 鈥淚n order to be effective, teachers will have to learn about the cultural experiences of their students, while using these experiences as a foundation for teaching. The approach is called culturally relevant pedagogy鈥 (Scruggs).
- 鈥淚n his book White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era, [Eduardo] Bonilla-Silva argues that racism has become more subtle since the end of segregation. He considers colorblindness the common manifestation of the 鈥榥ew racism鈥欌 (Scruggs).
Discrimination
- 鈥淭he unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation鈥 (American Psychological Association).
- 鈥淐onsciously or unconsciously treating someone else unfairly or holding them to different
standards on the basis of conscious or unconscious prejudiced beliefs, and not on
the basis of individual merit. Can manifest in the following ways:
- Overt discrimination: granting or denying rights or access to groups and/or individuals.
- Unequal treatment: treating someone poorly in comparison to others because of certain characteristics.
- Systemic discrimination: institutional policies and practices that result in the exclusion or promotion of certain groups鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
Equity
- 鈥淎n equity focus in policy recognizes the need to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes of students from underserved and underrepresented populations. Such lens is color conscious and seeks specifically to eliminate widening postsecondary gaps for American Indian, African American, and LatinX students. Furthermore, it seeks to shift accountability to the institution rather than to the students and allows the organization to see when policies and practices that appear to be beneficial actually are creating a worsening inequality鈥 (Minnesota State 2).
- 鈥淭he proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes and actions that produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts, and outcomes for all鈥 (Minnesota State 9).
- Campus context: 鈥淭he creation of opportunities for historically [and purposefully] underrepresented populations to have equitable access to and participate in educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gap in student success and completion鈥 (Minnesota State 9).
- 鈥淭he state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial, and fair, synonymous with fairness and justice. To be achieved and sustained, equity needs to be understood as a structural and systemic concept.鈥 (USC Center for Urban Education)
- 鈥淭he term 鈥榚quity鈥 refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. The process is ongoing, requiring us to identify and overcome intentional and unintentional barriers arising from bias or systemic structures.鈥 (National Association of Colleges and Employers)
- 鈥淓quity refers to achieving parity in student educational outcomes, regardless of race and ethnicity. It moves beyond issues of access and places success outcomes for students of color at center focus.鈥 (USC Center for Urban Education)
Inclusion
- 鈥淚nclusion refers to how diversity is leveraged to create a fair, equitable, healthy, and high-performing organization or community where all individuals are respected, feel engaged and motivated, and their contributions toward meeting organizational and societal goals are valued鈥 (Bennett).
- 鈥淚nclusivity is one of the results of the battle for social justice, equal rights, and opportunity. It is the product of the relentless struggle by the marginalized, oppressed, and discriminated against injustice and oppression鈥 (Ricee).
Intersectionality
- 鈥淭he ways in which systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class and other forms of discrimination 鈥榠ntersect鈥 to create unique dynamics and effects鈥 (Center for Intersectional Justice).
- 鈥淎ll forms of inequality are mutually reinforcing and must therefore be analysed and addressed simultaneously to prevent one form of inequality from reinforcing another鈥 (Center for Intersectional Justice).
- Kimberl茅 Crenshaw defines intersectionality as 鈥渁 lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality, or immigrant status. What鈥檚 often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts鈥 (Steinmetz).
Liberation
- 鈥淸T]he process whereby minoritized students are educated in colleges and universities that seek first and foremost to disrupt the socio-historical oppression of their students while simultaneously empowering them to free themselves from their own oppression鈥 (Garcia).
- 鈥淓ducation of a liberating character is a process by which the educator invites learners to recognize and unveil reality critically. The domestication practice tries to impart a false consciousness to learners, resulting in a acile adaptation to their reality; whereas a liberating practice cannot be reduced to an attempt on the part of the educator to impose freedom on learners鈥ducation for domestication is an act of transferring 鈥榢nowledge,鈥 whereas education for freedom is an act of knowledge and a process of transforming action that should be exercised on reality鈥 (Freire 102).
- 鈥淎 framework of action guided by the premise that the only way to end systemic oppression is by dismantling the system itself, as opposed to giving people equitable resources so they can exist under a system that doesn鈥檛 naturally benefit them鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
Liberatory Outcomes
鈥淭he goal is to collaborate with stakeholders to conceptualize liberatory educational outcomes such as critical consciousness, racial identity development, and social agency for postsecondary research, practice, and policy鈥 (Garcia).
Liberatory Pedagogy
鈥淟iberatory education begins by enabling the entire 黑料正能量C community to confront objectively the existence of intersectional oppression (eg. homophobia, anti-blackness, etc.) in higher education and by thinking critically about the effects on our entire community. We will do this by holding individuals, the institution, and its structures accountable with hopefulness for creating authentic change and liberation in the classroom, on campus, and throughout society, while intentionally changing the systems of oppression through praxis, self-determination, and measured success鈥 (黑料正能量C鈥檚 Academic Senate Social Justice Committee working definition).
Oppression
- 鈥淭he use of power to disempower, marginalize, silence or otherwise subordinate one social group or category, often in order to further empower and/or privilege the oppressor. Oppressed groups may consist of people who share a historically marginalized identity like people of color, or individuals of a certain religion or gender鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
- Systemic oppression is 鈥渄iscrimination that is omnipresent in our societal structures, like our laws, education, and customs鈥 (National Council of Jewish Women).
Praxis
- Exercise or practice of an art, science, or skill
- Customary practice or conduct
- Practical application of theory (Merriam-Webster)
Social Justice
- 鈥淪ocial justice is about distributing resources fairly and treating all students equitably so that they feel safe and secure鈥損hysically and psychologically鈥 (Alvarez).
- 鈥淪ocial Justice encompasses educational, economic, and political arenas. Social Justice is a commitment to equity and fairness in treatment and access to opportunities and resources for everyone, recognizing that all is not equal. Social Justice means that we work actively to eradicate structural and institutional racism, classism, linguicism, ableism, ageism, heterosexism, religious bias and xenophobia. Social Justice means that we, as educators are responsible for the collective good of society, not simply our own individual interests鈥 (California Teachers Association).
Works Cited
- Alvarez, Brenda. 鈥淲hy Social Justice in School Matters.鈥 National Education Association, 22 Jan. 2019,
- American Psychological Association. 鈥淒iscrimination: What It Is and How to Cope,鈥 31 Oct. 2022,
- Anti-Violence Project. 鈥淲hat Is Anti-Oppression?鈥 2023,
- Bennett, J.M., editor. The Sage Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence. Sage Publications, Inc., 2015, pp. 267-269.
- California Teachers Association, 鈥淨uality, Free Public Education for All,鈥
- Center for Intersectional Justice, 鈥淲hat Is Intersectionality?鈥
- Freire, Paulo. The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation. Bergin & Garvey, 1985.
- Garcia, Gina Ann. 鈥淏eyond Graduation Rates: Conceptualizing Liberatory Educational Outcomes for Colleges and Universities.鈥 University of Pittsburgh, 2022,
- 鈥. 鈥淚s Liberation a Viable Outcome for Students Who Attend College?鈥 Higher Ed Jobs, 28 May 2020,
- The Institute for Anti-Racist Education. 鈥淐reating Anti-racist Educators and Educational Settings Across the Nation.鈥
- Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. One World, 2019. Minnesota State Office of Equity and Inclusion. 鈥淎pplying an Equity Lens to Policy Review.鈥
- National Council of Jewish Women. 鈥淎nti-Oppression Terms List.鈥
- National Education Association. 鈥淭eaching with an Anti-Racist Lens.鈥
- National League of Cities. 鈥淲hat Does It Mean to Be an Anti-Racist?鈥
- 鈥淧raxis, N.鈥 Merriam-Webster, 2023,
- Ricee, Susanne, 鈥淲hat Is Inclusivity?,鈥 Diversity for Social Impact, 28 Feb. 2017,
- Scruggs, Afi-Odelia E. 鈥淐olorblindness: The New Racism?鈥 Learning for Justice, Fall 2009,
- Steinmetz, Katy. 鈥淪he Coined the Term 鈥業ntersectionality鈥 Over 30 Years Ago. Here鈥檚 What It Means to Her Today.鈥 Time, 20 Feb. 2020,
- USC Center for Urban Education, 2020,