This Book Is Anti-racist

Folx

A gender neutral term that refers to people of all genders, social identities, ethnicities.

Race

A socially constructed term that divides fox up based on their skin color and physical characteristics; it is not based on facts and is not grounded in genetics.

Anti-racism

Actively working against racism. Making a commitment to resisting unjust laws, policies, and racist attitudes.

Indigenous

Also known in some regions as First peoples, First Nations, Aboriginal peoples or Native peoples, or are ethnic groups who are the original or earliest known inhabitants of an area, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.

Folx of the Global Majority

An empowering people-centered term that reminds folx that Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are (numerically) the majority of people in the world.

Institutions

Established laws, policies, customs, and procedures that are part of our culture and easy of being.

Nonbinary

Folx who identify as having no gender, or a gender in-between (or beyond) being a man or a woman. It is a diverse category and not every nonbinary person feels the same way.

Neurotypical

People with typical development and intellectual ability.

Anti-racist

Someone who is opposed to racism

Transgender

Someone whose gender identity differs from the gender they were assigned at birth.

Privilege

The benefits, advantages, and power given due to the social identities shared with the dominant culture. Privileges are granted and favored by institutions and social norms that were created by those in the imaginary box.

Latinx

The general, gender neutral term for folx who are from Latin America and of Latin American descent. Folx who are from countries and places that were once colonized by Spain and Latin-based language countries are lumped into this term.

Dominant culture

The group of people in a society who hold the most power and are often (but not always) in the majority. In the U.S. and the U.K.: people who are white, middle class, Christian, and cisgender are the dominant culture. They are in charge of the institutions and have established behaviors, values, and traditions that are considered acceptable and the "norm" in our countries.

Marginalization

The purposeful disempowerment of folx that denies access to resources and power.

Gender

The social construction of your role in a society based on the dominant culture's creation of what is masculine and famine. Your gender is not defined by the sex you were assigned at birth.

Neurodiverse

The term used to described neurological differences (like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, Tourett's syndrome); acknowledges that these differences are from genetic variations, are often not visible, and that folx who are neurodiverse are not sick, badly behaved, or damaged.

Marginalized

To be on the outside of the imaginary box of your dominant culture and treated as if you are insignificant and inferior.

Cisgender

When your personal identity and gender expression correspond with the sex you were assigned at birth. The word can be shortened to "cis," as in "cis female" or "cis male."