A social construct that categorizes people based on physical and cultural traits, such as skin color, facial features, hair texture, and customs, often used as a basis for discrimination and inequality.
Intersectionality: The study of the interconnectedness of social categories and systems of oppression, such as race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability.
Structural Racism: A system of policies and practices that reinforce racial inequities and inequalities, including redlining, mass incarceration, and racial profiling.
Whiteness: A social construct that privileges people who are perceived as white while marginalizing and oppressing people of color.
Privilege: The advantages that certain groups receive due to their social identities and power dynamics.
Microaggressions: Subtle, often unintentional, and common forms of discrimination that can have a significant impact on marginalized communities.
Allyship: The act of being an active and supportive accomplice to marginalized communities.
Cultural Appropriation: The taking of aspects of a marginalized group's culture without permission or understanding of its significance.
Colonialism and Decolonization: The political and economic domination of colonized peoples and territories by imperial powers.
Critical Race Theory: An academic framework that examines how race intersects with law, society, and culture to perpetuate racism and inequality.
Implicit Bias: The unconscious attitudes and beliefs that influence our perceptions and interactions with marginalized groups.
Intersectional Feminism: A feminist movement that recognizes the interconnectedness of various forms of oppression and the ways in which gender intersects with other factors like race and class.
Reproductive Justice: The right to have control over one's own reproductive choices and healthcare without fear of discrimination, violence, or coercion.
Environmental Racism: The disproportionate burden of pollution and toxic waste on low-income communities and communities of color.
The Prison Industrial Complex: A system of policies and practices that perpetuate mass incarceration and the criminalization of people of color.
White Supremacy: The belief in the inherent superiority of white people and the systems of power that uphold those beliefs.