Stereotype – a stereotype is a preconceived or oversimplified generalization about an entire group of people without regard for their individual difference.  While often negative, stereotypes may also be complimentary. Yet even positive stereotypes can have a negative impact and can fit into discrimination. ¹ Back To Top

Prejudice – prejudice is a negative or hostile attitude toward a person or group formed without just grounds or sufficient knowledge and based on negative stereotypes.  Prejudice is the result of “prejudgment” and can lead to discrimination. ¹ Back To Top

Discrimination – discrimination is the negative treatment of a person or group based on prejudiced assumptions of group characteristics, rather than on individual merit. ¹ Back To Top

The differential allocation of goods, resources and services, and the limitation of access to full participation in society based on individual memberships in a particular social group. ³

Culture – the set of learned behavior and results of behavior whose components are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society, various groups within and among various ethnic and racial groups can have their own culture. ² Back To Top

Aspects of a social environment that are used to communicate values such as what is considered good and desirable, right and wrong, normal, different, appropriate, or attractive.  The means through which society creates a context from which individuals derive meaning ad prescriptions for successful living within that culture (language and speech patterns, orientation toward time, standards of beauty, holidays that are celebrated, images of a “normal” family). ³

• The “Total Personality” of a group that emerges from the interpersonal transactions of the members
• A framework for exercise, survival and expression
• Overriding philosophy, value system, collective worldview and living patterns of a group

Race – A social construct that artificially divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance (particularly color), ancestral heritage, cultural affiliation, cultural history, ethnic classification, and the social economic and political needs of a society at a given period of time.  Race categories subsume ethnic groups. ³ Back To Top

Minority – a group of people who, because of physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination. ¹ Back To Top

Ethnicity – A group classification in which members share unique social and cultural heritage passed on from generation to the next. ¹ Back To Top

Ethnic groups – A social construct which divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics such as shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history and ancestral geographic base.  Examples of ethnic groups are:

Cape Verdean, Haitian, African American (Black), Cherokee, Mohawk, Navajo (Native American), Polish, Irish, French (White), Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese (Asian), Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican (Latino) ³ Back To Top

Racial & Ethnic Identity – An individual’s awareness and experience of being a member of a racial and ethnic group; the racial and ethnic categories that an individual chooses to describe him or herself based on such factors as biological heritage, physical appearance, cultural affiliation, early socialization, and personal experience. ³ Back To Top

Oppression – State in which a person is deprived of some human right or dignity and is/feels powerless to do anything about it. ¹ Back To Top

Collusion – Thinking and acting in ways which (directly or indirectly) support the system of racism.  We believe that both White and People of Color can collude with racism through their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. ³ Back To Top