Glossary of Terms

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

You likely have heard or been involved in conversations around race, ethnicity, and gender, especially if you’re in the United States. In these conversations, you may have encountered terms that have been unfamiliar or maybe even jarring. I know in my own experience, I remember first encountering some of the words below and feeling frustrated at first, not knowing what they meant. I also didn’t want to appear ignorant so I wouldn’t ask for clarification.

Regardless of our political affiliations (or lack of political affiliations), it’s important that we understand each other. In any language, additional vocabulary can help us speak more accurately (hence, as you study in any academic field, you will inevitably pick up additional vocabulary to sharpen your insights and descriptions). We share these terms to help facilitate better understanding, not to endorse any specific perspectives beyond the one that as followers of Christ, we are called to engage with the world and join God in his work in reconciling people with God and one another.

Below is a glossary of terms you may be hearing more and more in your circles. We pray God will use these terms to help us understand and describe what’s going on with greater accuracy and grease the gears of our communication. Our prayer is that we would become peacemakers (not necessarily only peacekeepers) in the years to come and that these definitions will help equip you in your calling. 

Equity vs. Equality - Some people say everything should be equal (equality) without accounting for the past. Some compare this to a baseball game. Imagine the score being 20-0 by the end of the 7th inning when you find out that one team has been playing without bats. Demanding equality only is like the team with bats saying, we’ll give you bats, but keep playing the game for the 8th and 9th inning with the score still at 20-0. Equity is an approach not only to even the scales, but to acknowledge and adjust for inequalities both from the past and present.

Example: Imagine a group of children trying to look over a barrier to watch a baseball game. Some are short and can’t see anything and some are tall and can see the game. Equality gives each child a box of the same size to stand on, while equity provides what each child needs to see over the barrier.

Note: The implications of policies based on this concept can be complicated and messy as status can be multifaceted across areas such as race, financial resources, and others.  

Colorblind (connected with the idea of race) - The idea that we shouldn’t see race in others. While it may be well-intentioned, this can lead us to ignore the fact that differences do exist and that some groups have advantages over others. If we assume we’re all the same, we fail to notice when one group suffers because of how others treat them due to some perceived difference. In addition, being “colorblind” often ignores that God has given many gifts through different cultures, languages, and traditions. Yes, we are all one in Christ Jesus, but at the same time, we are also from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. 

Foreignness - Many Asian Americans (and many other non-white Americans) may always be seen as “foreign”, as not belonging in the United States. This can be true of other groups in other countries where someone might look completely different from the majority group. 

Impact vs. Intention - When we say or do something, it can have an impact on someone else. Sometimes the impact is negligible and sometimes it’s significant. Impact depends on the situation and the person on the receiving end of an action or word. Intent depends on the heart of the person doing the action or saying the word. Intent does not always align directly with impact.

Scenario: Let’s say someone bumped into a child, making the child trip over. Aside from some scrapes the child might be okay. But what if this person bumped into a child with brittle bones or with a bleeding disorder? The child might break a bone or end up with some serious health conditions. Depending on the child that was bumped into, the impact may differ.

In the same situation, the person who bumped into the child may have had various intentions. They could have been on their phone and accidentally ran into the child or they could have been very angry at the child and maliciously pushed the child over. In the first case, the person did not intend to hurt anyone and their intent did not align with the impact. In the second, they did.

Impact is important to God because he cares for us and his creation. He knows how many hairs are on our heads and knows when a sparrow dies and cares when his creation suffers. Scripture describes provision for unintentional sin (both for the community and as an individual) where impact occurs without intent (see Numbers 15:22-29; Exodus 21:35).

Intent is important to God because he is holy. Our hearts are the wellsprings of life. From our hearts come forth things both in our imaginations (which God cares about) and our actions (which God also cares about). Sin can be found even where there is only intention in the heart and no visible impact on another person. 

Institutional Racism (sometimes referred to as Systemic Racism) - Racism is assuming something of someone, treating someone differently, or actively opposing someone because of their perceived membership in a particular race. Institutional racism takes this to the institutional level.

Institutions are established by people for others and can range from organizations to laws and traditions. Because institutions are established by people, they can take on the flavor and context of the people who made them. These can range from governmental organizations to cultural traditions.

Examples: In 1853, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, three white men were arrested for the murder of a Chinese miner who appeared to have been trying to protect his sluice boxes (used for panning for gold). Other Chinese miners witnessed this murder. One of the white men, George Hall, was convicted for murder and sentenced for hanging. George appealed to the California Supreme Court (People v. Hall) which ruled that the Chinese, like African Americans and Native Americans, were not allowed to testify in court. They ruled that the Chinese were “a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior, and who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point” and because of this, should not be able “to swear away the life of a citizen” or participate “with us in administering the affairs of our Government” 1. George Hall was later freed as no white witnesses could be found to testify against him.

In the late 1800s, many in the United States felt that Chinese immigrants were causing the economy to suffer and making wages go down. There were concerns about where the United States was headed. This led to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and later the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act which barred additional immigration and made Asians ineligible for citizenship (and hence, ineligible to own land). This law was made based solely on race. 2

Sometimes institutional and systemic racism can be difficult to pinpoint and less explicit. When the institution or system is a culture, it is often less obvious and sometimes unclear if the racism is purposeful or not. 

Microaggression/Micro-inequity - Indirect, subtle, or sometimes unintentional discrimination against someone.

Example: Someone who’s Black being told they are “articulate” or “well-spoken”. This may be a compliment, but it often underlies the assumption (could be an unconscious assumption) that someone who’s Black is usually not good at speaking or writing. Another example: Asian Americans are often asked, “Where are you from?” as if they are not from the United States. Caucasian Americans are usually not asked where they are from, but many people seem to assume someone who looks Asian is not from the United States. There is often an element of “foreignness” in how many people perceive Asian people. 

Model Minority - This term was first seen in an article by sociologist William Petersen in 1966. In an article for The New York Times Magazine, he wrote about successful Japanese Americans who overcame adversity, according to him, due to their culture, work ethic, and Confucian values.

Some believe this to be true, that Asian Americans are successful due to their culture and inherent qualities, while others argue this is a myth used to minimize how much racism exists in the United States and divides minorities and pits them against one another. Others argue there are parts of each side that are true.

Example: People might say “Asians are more successful because of their culture.” This could imply other groups are less successful because of their culture when in reality, there were some people groups that primarily came to America as refugees during certain times versus those who came to America on working visas granted based on graduate level education in specialty occupations. 

People of color - People who are not white. Preferably not used to refer to only one group of people (i.e. you have a group of only Chinese people in mind. In those cases, it’s considered more respectful to refer to them as Chinese people rather than “people of color”). 

Power - Andy Crouch defines power as the ability to make something of your world. This can be the ability to give meaning to something, to create something, or to change your world. 

Privilege - An exclusive power or benefit that is inherited by an individual or certain group. This is often assumed and can be potentially positive or neutral but also dangerous because it is often invisible to the holder.

Examples: College applications often ask if a prospective student has parents or other family members who have attended the college. If a student had a parent or other immediate family member who had attended that college, they would be considered a “legacy” student, which could give them a special advantage in an applicant pool. This is an example of privilege. This student did not earn this but inherited this special advantage.

Often Asian Americans are asked, “Where are you from?” This implies Asian Americans are outsiders, making it so the recipients of this question feel like they don’t fully belong. Privilege in this case would be seen in someone who automatically is assumed to belong. Sometimes in diverse groups, we look to whoever’s white to lead or assume they are the leaders by virtue of having white leadership in many facets of our communities. This situation can flip in other cultures and countries depending on who’s assumed to be “in” or in power. 

Race - Sociological grouping of people based on a specific trait or traits, often physical, that people believe are common to a group of shared ancestry. This is not a biologically defined difference, but a socially constructed distinction, a distinction created by a group of people. Historically, this has often been used to give advantages to specific groups of people.

Examples: White, Black, Asian 

White Supremacy - The idea that the race of white people is superior (more capable, etc.) than other races and should dominate society. Most of us might think of this term in the context of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or other explicitly racist groups. However, you may start to hear this idea in how some systems or institutions were built or are governed by people who favor white people over other groups (whether explicitly or implicitly).

Example: In the United States, there is history in our legal system of favoring white people (regarding citizenship, education, ability to stand trial as a witness, etc.).  

Suggested Resources: 

Readings:

The Minority Experience by Adrian Pei

The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee

Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.

With Justice for All by John M. Perkins

Podcasts:

The Judson Podcast -

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-judson-podcast/id1504791718

Color Correction - warning: some language

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/color-correction/id1472806179

Sources

1 "People v. Hall (1854)." Immigration History. January 31, 2020. Accessed April 08, 2021. https://immigrationhistory.org/item/people-v-hall/.

2 "Racism." National Museum of American History. September 12, 2018. Accessed April 08, 2021. https://americanhistory.si.edu/righting-wrong-japanese-americans-and-world-war-ii/racism

3 "Model Minority." Model Minority Section. Accessed April 7, 2021. https://depts.washington.edu/sibl/Publications/Model%20Minority%20Section%20(2011).pdf

4 Erika Lee argues in The Making of Asian America: A History that this assumption that Asians are more successful is much muddier and more complicated than it may appear at first glance.

5 Crouch, Andy. Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 153.

6 For more illustration, check out https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/the-wireless/373065/the-pencilsword-on-a-plate for a comic which tries to illustrate how privilege can come into existence.