An acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous and people of color. The term is meant to unite all people of color while acknowledging that Black and Indigenous people face different and often more severe forms of racial oppression and cultural erasure as consequences of systemic white supremacy and colonialism. It is a noun and since …
People of two or more racial backgrounds. In the 2010 U.S. census, approximately 9 million individuals, or 2.9 percent of the population, self-identified as multiracial. That number is expected to grow as more interracial couples have babies. Many terms exist for people of various multiracial backgrounds. Preferred terms include multiracial, biracial, multiethnic, polyethnic. Avoid half, …
A member of the indigenous people who have traditionally inhabited Alaska and other Arctic regions, including eastern Siberia in Russia, Canada and Greenland. The term is controversial and should be used with caution. “Although the name ‘Eskimo’ is commonly used in Alaska to refer to all Inuit and Yupik people of the world, this name …
Use with caution. Use nation or ethnic group except for specific entities like a tribal council on a reservation or when a Native group or other group calls itself a tribe. Within the United States, many Native Americans prefer the term nation because their people have signed treaties with the United States that recognize them …
A person of mixed racial or ethnic ancestry. The term is widely used in Latin America to describe people with a combination of White European and Indigenous backgrounds. The word means mixed in Spanish.
#BlackoutDay is a social media campaign to celebrate Black history and the beauty of Black people. People who identify as Black, (including people from Africa or from the African diaspora and mixed-race or part-Black people) are encouraged to post photos of themselves on social media with the hashtags #TheBlackout, #Blackoutday and/or #Blackout, according to the …
Gypsy is a word used to indicate Roma people, a traditionally itinerant ethnic group that lives in Europe and has branches in the Americas, Asia and North Africa. The word Gypsy has negative connotations and many Roma people see it as a racial slur. In general, it’s best to use Roma people when referring to …
A derogatory word for a Pole or a person of Polish descent. The word derives from Polak, which means a Polish male or a person of Polish nationality, which has a neutral connotation. In the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family,” the character Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O’Connor) frequently referred to his son-in-law, Mike …
The Roma, or Romani (also spelled Romany) are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group, who live mostly in Europe; branches of the ethnic group live in the Americas, Asia and North Africa. They are often called Gypsies (or Gipsies) but that term has negative connotations of illegal activity and many Roma don’t identify with it. They …
People who share a lineage that can be traced directly or indirectly to Europe. Don’t use Caucasian. There has been much discussion about whether the w in White and the b in Black should be capitalized. In the summer of 2020, after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked protests around the country …