Glossary

Ableism
A system of oppression that disadvantages people with disabilities and advantages people who do not currently have disabilities. Ableism encompasses both the experiences of people with disabilities and the impact of functions of anti-disability structures, cultural norms, belief systems, and behaviors that maintain the status quo and exclude, dehumanize, and deny people with disabilities dignity and full rights of citizenship.

Abolition
Refers to a political vision for dismantling and eliminating oppressive systems, practices, and institutions. Abolition often centers on prisons, jails, police, courts, and surveillance. Abolitionist practice is also about establishing a system that is rooted in dignity and care for all people; a system that does not rely on punitive measures.

Anti-Blackness
Beliefs, attitudes, actions, practices, and behaviors of individuals or institutions that devalue, minimize, and marginalize the full participation of Black people of African descent; the systematic denial of Black humanity and dignity and ideologies which perceive and treat Black people as inherently problematic, while simultaneously denying the long, rich, and diverse history of Black peoples across Africa and the African diaspora.

Antisemitism
Refers to the exploitation, marginalization, discrimination, and violence against Jewish peoples. Antisemitic ideology relies on stereotypes and mythologies to dehumanize, degrade, and blame jews for societies problems.

Cisgender
A term (pronounced sis-gender) used to refer to an individual whose gender identity aligns with the sex assigned to them at birth. The prefix cis- comes from the Latin word for “on the same side as.” People who are both cisgender and heterosexual are sometimes referred to as “cishet” (pronounced sis-het) individuals. The term cisgender is not a slur. Rather, it is a term that allows nontransgender individuals to name their identities without defaulting to the oppressive language and ideologies of normalcy/abnormality.

Classism
Differential treatment based on actual or perceived socio-economic class. Classism is the systematic oppression of subordinated class groups to advantage and strengthen the dominant class groups, based on beliefs and attitudes of worth and ability assigned to each class. Policies and practices are set up to benefit class-privileged people at the expense of the less class-privileged, resulting in income, wealth, and resource disparities.

Colonization
Colonization or colonialism is a historical and ongoing global project where settlers and invaders occupy land; dictate social, political, and economic systems; and exploit Indigenous peoples and their resources.

Colorism
Refers to attitudes, beliefs, or actions that prioritize whiteness and value those who appear closer in proximity to white skin and features. Colorism privileges people with lighter skin while disadvantaging people with darker skin. Colorism operates within and across racial and ethnic groups.

Critical Race Theory
A legal philosophy combining progressive political struggles for racial justice with critiques of the conventional legal and scholarly norms. CRT theorists and scholars challenge the way race and racial power are constructed by law and culture by examining the ways white supremacy and privilege maintain the rule of law, policies, and practices. CRT’s influence has expanded beyond the legal realm, to other scholarly disciplines and professional fields, as a framework of analysis for systemic racism in society and culture.

Decolonization
Refers to “cultural, psychological, and economic freedom” for Indigenous peoples with the goal of achieving Indigenous sovereignty.

Explicit Bias
Consciously held attitudes and beliefs about a person or group of people.

Implicit Bias
Unconsciously held attitudes or beliefs about a person or group of people. Also referred to as hidden bias, refers to negative associations that people unknowingly hold. Many studies have indicated that implicit biases affect individuals’ attitudes and actions, resulting in real-world implications and impacts on others, even though individuals may not even be aware that those biases exist within themselves.

Indigenous Sovereignty
The right and ability of Indigenous peoples to practice self-determination over their land, cultures, political, and economic systems.

Intersectionality
Refers to double or multiple marginalizations impacting and experienced by an individual. It is a metaphor and a framework for thinking about the ways people are simultaneously impacted by race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class, disability, nationality, and religion, as well as other aspects of a person’s identity and lived experience.

Liberation
Liberation is defined and imagined by many people in many different ways. RLL uses the term “liberation” to imagine and advocate for intersectional freedom for all from collaborative oppressive systems: racial capitalism, colonization, and patriarchy.

Queer
A term with multiple meanings:

  • A general term referring to all non-heterosexual people
  • Individuals who do not conform to cultural norms around gender and/or sexuality;
  • Social and political resistance to dominant cultural ideals of “normal.” An anti-assimilation and transgressive way of being which may or may not be connected to sexuality or gender expression.

The term queer has been used as a slur against the LGBTQIA+ community, though many have sought to reclaim it as a term of empowerment. Others within the community are reluctant to embrace it.

Patriarchy
Refers to the social relations of power between men, women, and transgender and gender-non-conforming people. It is a system that maintains class, gender, racial, and heterosexual privilege and the status quote of power by relying on violence and systemic oppression to perpetuate inequality. Patriarchal beliefs of male, heterosexual dominance and the devaluation of girls and women lie at the root of gender-based violence.

Privilege
An unearned benefit or special advantage granted only to certain members within specific social groups, determined by race, gender, ethnicity, class, etc.

Race
A classification of human beings created by white Europeans, which assigns human worth and social status using “white” as the model of humanity and the height of human achievement for the purpose of establishing and maintaining privilege and power.

Race Neutral
Refers to a policy, program, measure, or other that is created and/or implemented without accounting for the inequities of race. Race neutral language (also referred to as colorblind*) deepens racial inequity.

*RLL recognizes this term as ableist. Therefore, RLL intentionally and purposefully chooses to employ the phrase “race neutral.”

Racial Capitalism
Refers to the permeation of race and racism within capitalist structures. Racial capitalism provides a framework for examining the race-based exploitation of labor, historically and in the present. Racial capitalism relies on an ideology that workers are superior/inferior to other workers, based on their race. Workers can then be divided and their labor extracted to maximize profits.

Racial Justice
The proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes, and actions that produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts, and outcomes for racial and ethnic minoritized communities.

Radicalism
Refers to ideologies, behaviors, and practices to resist racial, social, and political injustice. Radicalism is:

  • Critical of the status quo and oppositional to authority
  • Focused on transformation of systems rather than reformative change
  • Counter-cultural in its expression, ideology, and imagination
  • Considered “extreme” to those who consider the status quo normal

Settler Colonialism

Colonizers/invaders who create permanent or long-term settlements on lands owned and/or occupied by other peoples, often by force. Settler colonialism typically includes oppressive governance, dismantling indigenous cultural forms, and the enforcement of codes of superior (such as white supremacy). Examples of settler colonialism are:

  • White European occupation of indigenous lands in what is now called the United States and Canada  
  • Apartheid government established by White European settlers in South Africa
  • Israeli occupation of Palestine

Contrastingly, colonialism refers to colonizers/invaders who seize lands owned and/or occupied by other peoples, often by force, for the purpose of extracting resources to send back to their countries of origin.

White Supremacy
A race-based system of exploitation and oppression of people, resources, and lands for the purpose of maintaining and defending wealth, power, and privilege.

Sources

Belfi, E. & Sandiford, N. (2021). Decolonization Series Part 1: Exploring Decolonization. In S. Brandauer and E. Hartman (Eds.). Interdependence: Global Solidarity and Local Actions. The Community-based Global Learning Collaborative.

Chayes, A.; Fisher, W.; Horwitz, M.; Michelman, F.; Minow, M.; Nesson, C.; Rakoff, T. Legal Theory: Critical Race Theory. Harvard University.

Crenshaw, K. (2017). Kimberlé Crenshaw on Intersectionality, More than Two Decades Later. Columbia Law School.

Glossary. Racial Equity Tools.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, & Intersex Life: Definitions. Vanderbilt University.

Patriarchy & Power. Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence.

Queer 101: Identity, Inclusion, and Resources. Unitarian Universalist Association.

Racial Equity Glossary. CORE: Council on Racial Equity.

Robinson, C. J. (1983). Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition. University of North Carolina Press.

Williams Comrie,J.; Landor, A. M.; Townsend Riley, K.; Williamson, J. D. Anti-Blackness/Colorism. Boston University.

What is (and isn’t) radical? Chicago Humanities.