Inclusive Communities

Glossary

Acronym Term Meaning

ASU Arizona State University
DEIB Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
JEDI Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
LIFT Listen, Invest, Facilitate, and Teach
OIE Office of Inclusive Excellence

Bias: An inclination of preference, especially one that interferes with impartial judgment.

Cultural competence: The development of relational skills that allows individuals to

enhance their understanding and responsiveness to cultural differences. This
competency is having an awareness of one's own cultural identity and views about
difference, and the ability to learn and build on the varying cultural and community
norms of various peoples and their communities.

Cultural humility: A lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique to understand

personal biases and to develop and maintain mutually respectful partnerships based on
trust. To be culturally humble is to recognize that we do not know everything there is to
know about different cultures and to demonstrate a willingness to learn.

Cultural responsiveness: The ability to understand cultural differences and identify

biases to work within and among cultural contexts that are different from one’s own. It
enables individuals and organizations to respond respectfully and effectively to people
of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, religions,
genders, sexual orientations, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes,
affirms, and values their worth.

Gender pronouns: The pronoun or set of pronouns that a person would like others to
call them by, when their proper name is not being used. Traditional examples include
“she/her/hers” or “he/him/his.” Some people preferred gender-neutral pronouns such as
“ze/hir/hirs,” “zie/zir/zirs,” “ey/em/eirs,” “per/per/pers,” “hu/hum/hus,” or
“they/them/theirs.” Some people prefer no pronouns at all.

Intersectionality: The study of how intersecting systems of power, privilege, and

oppression affect how individuals' experiences across various contexts based on two or
more socially constructed identities (gender, race, class, sex, ethnicity, religion, etc.).

Justice: Equitableness.

Neurodiversity: The viewpoint that brain differences are normal, rather than deficits.
The idea of neurodiversity can have benefits for people and groups with learning and
thinking differences. This concept can help reduce stigma around learning and thinking
differences.

Microaggression: Refers to pejorative subtle insults. These include verbal, nonverbal,

environmental and/or visual actions that manifest as automatic acts of disregard
stemming from conscious or unconscious negative attitudes about a social group. Such
insults can be covert, conscious, or they can be unintentional. For many people, these
occur multiple times per day.

Macroaggressions: These are overt attacks, insults, and/or pejorative statements or

actions made against minoritized and marginalized peoples by those considered to
belong to the status quo or social majority. Macroaggressions can manifest as systemic
and institutional forms of oppression when institutions explicitly or implicitly promote
discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that project inaccurate or damaging
assumptions of a particular group or limit the participation and inclusion of that group.

POC: A person who identifies and/or is identified as African American/Black,

Arab/Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Islander, LatinX/Hispanic, American Indian/First
Nation/Indigenous, and Biracial/Multiracial heritages. The term People of Color (POC) is
sometimes preferred to other common terms, such as minority and non-white. While
people of color are currently a minority in the United States, they are a vast majority of
the world’s population. White people are a distinct minority of the people of the earth.

Politically correct: The avoidance of language and practices which could offend
personal and political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) Power/privilege: A right
that only some people have access or availability to because of their social group
memberships (dominants). Because hierarchies of privilege exists, even within the
same group, people who are part of the group in power (white/Caucasian people with
respect to people of color, men with respect to women, heterosexuals with respect to
homosexuals, adults with respect to children, and rich people with respect to poor
people) often deny they have privilege even when evidence of differential benefit is
obvious.

Power (Institutional): The ability or official authority to decide what is best for others.
The ability to decide who will have access to resources. The capacity to exercise control
over others.

Praxis: The process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, embodied, or

realized. Praxis is the practical application of any branch of learning with reflection,
while practice is the repetition of an activity to improve skill.

Privilege: Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional levels

and gives advantages, favors, and benefits to members of dominant groups at the
expense of members of target groups. In the United States, privilege is granted to
people who have membership in one or more of these social identity groups: White
people; Able-bodied people; Heterosexuals; Males; Christians; Middle or owning class
people; Middle-aged people; English-speaking people.

Safe/brave spaces: Refers to an environment in which everyone feels comfortable in

expressing themselves and participating fully, without fear of attack, ridicule or denial of
experience. Importantly, the comfort and learning of privileged groups or dominant
identities are not prioritized at the expense of marginalized groups or identities. *Note:
although this term has not officially been included in the ASU code of conduct, several
offices on campus promote training and awareness for how to build these types of
spaces in the classroom and on campus.
Social construction: A category, idea, or mechanism created and developed by
society; a perception, of an individual, group, or idea that is constructed through cultural
or social practice alongside institutional policies and material conditions. When we say
that something is socially constructed, we are focusing on the fact that it is made by
humans and lacks “universal” consensus. For example, the concept of good and evil:
what these terms include and don’t include and what it means to society, do not exist
“out there” in the world, but only in and through the social institutions that give them
meaning within a culture at a specific time in history.

Social identity: Involves groups that individuals identify with based on socially
sanctioned and constructed categories. These groups share (or are perceived to share)
histories, languages, customs, ways of being and/or understanding the world. Social
identities are not based on one’s individual choices, but more so on the categories
available to individuals based on pre-determined options made available to an individual
within society. Some identities or some affinity groups include gender, race, sexuality,
ability, social class, and many more.

Social justice: An approach that envisions a society where the distribution of resources
is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Social
justice involves social actors who have a sense of their own agency as well as a sense
of social responsibility toward and with others and society as a whole.

Transformative Justice: A process for responding to violence and locating

opportunities to address and repair harm. It relies on a framework of harm reduction
without creating or engaging further acts of harm. As disability justice activist Mia
Mingus argues, transformative justice approaches "actively cultivate the things we know
prevent violence such as healing, accountability, resilience, and safety for all involved"
by building personal and collective capacity to respond to trauma and support
accountability in ways that promote collective liberation.

Trickle-Up Social Justice: A justice approach that prioritizes the most

underrepresented groups - including low-income people, undocumented queers, people
of color, and imprisoned people - due to a belief that addressing and solving social
problems from the bottom up will benefit everyone. This approach is believed to allow
prioritization of a number of groups rather than just one identity category deemed the
most oppressed since these groups are defined in opposition to those with greater
privilege and not by any specific single identity category of their own.
White supremacy: On an individual level, it is the belief that White people constitute a
superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or
detriment of other racial and ethnic groups. Historic examples that have been
associated with White supremacist thinking and ideology include Manifest Destiny and
the Norman Yoke. On an institutional level, white supremacy is a system of rewards and
privileges rendered invisible by narratives of merit and hard work that mask the
advantages associated with White racial identity. It enables and proliferates racial
exploitation, and consolidates the economic, political and social-cultural power of
European-descended peoples in the United States, a power that has its origins in the
conquest, colonization and enslavement of Indigenous and African peoples throughout
Western civilization. Talking about white supremacy doesn't negate the difficult
experiences faced by Whites, it does, however, recognize that, for whites, skin color has
not been one of the things making it harder to access services, rights, and privileges
both historically and contemporarily.

Race Key Terms

Critical Race Theory (CRT): A set of ideas and evolving practices that interrogate the
relationship among race, racism and power. The term "Critical Race Theory" was coined
by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. CRT has evolved from a strictly legal theory and
set of ideas to one that unpacks the social construction of race through law, social
policy, education and culture. It also examines how institutional and structural racism
preserve systems of inequality (e.g., classism, sexism, homophobia) that sustain
hierarchies of power whereby people of color remain at the bottom of the social ladder.
Critical race theorists recognize that the history and living legacy of colonialism, slavery
and segregation are social facts, and investigate how these systems are woven into the
fabric of society. CRT grew out of Critical Legal Studies in the 1970s to recognize that
racism impacts the experiences of all communities. Influential scholars in the field
include Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Cheryl Harris, Richard Delgado, Patricia
Williams, Mari Matsuda, Adrienne Katherine Wing and Gloria Ladson-Billings. The field
has expanded to explore the specificity of racism within communities, including
AsianCRT, LatCrit and TribalCrit, and is now being taken up by scholars across
academic disciplines, including education, political science, sociology, geography,
American studies and ethnic studies.

Culture: The characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place

or time. While we refer to "American Culture" as something that is characteristic of
everyday life in the U.S. we must also recognize that there are countless other cultures
and experiences.

Ethnicity: A population that shares common characteristics like religion, language,

traditions, culture, and geographic origin. This is different from race, because ethnicity
refers to origin and may be self-identified.

Prejudice: A preconceived judgment or opinion adverse to another person or group,

based solely on a socially constructed category. This may manifest in actions, words, or
inactions. It may also take the form of an irrational attitude of hostility directed against
others.

Race: A social construct that orders people into groups based on characteristics like
physical appearance, heritage, culture, ethnicity. Race is constructed by different social,
economic, and political contexts, and may change over time. Race includes power,
privilege. Racial categories are ranked and imposed on different peoples.

Racism: Involves the relationship between racial prejudice and institutional. It is also a
belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial
differences produce inherent superiority in a particular race. Racism includes explicit
and implicit assertions of superiority by individuals as well as systems of oppression that
are linked to social, economic, and cultural attitudes.

Gender Key Terms

Cisgender: A person whose gender identity and expression align with the sex to which
they were assigned at birth.

Gender: A set of cultural meanings, expressions, and roles associated with but not
limited to biological sex. Gender is expressed through a series of traits, behaviors, and
performances associated with one’s gender identity.

Gender Identity: How one identifies one’s own gender, including gender expression
and identifying terms like pronouns. For some, gender identities align with physical sex
characteristics (hormones, chromosomes, genitalia) and societal norms (gender
assignment, gender roles, etc). For others, gender identity does not match up with
these.

Misogyny: The hatred of women, as demonstrated by acts and statements that assume
the inferiority of women, whether overtly or casually/dismissively (misogyny applies to
both cisgender and transgender women).

Sex: Identity assigned at birth, based on conformity with certain biological markers—like
chromosomes, reproductive organs, or genitalia—designating an individual as “male,”
“female,” or “intersex”.

Sexism: The body of individual, institutional, and societal beliefs and practices that
privilege men and subordinates women. Patriarchy is sexist because it benefits men.
Misogyny is sexist, because it assumes the inferiority of women.

Transgender: A person whose gender identity and/or expression are not aligned with
the gender they were assigned at birth. Transgender is often used as an umbrella term
encompassing a large number of identities not represented by normative ideas about
gender.

Transphobia: The fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender,
thought to be transgender, or whose gender expression doesn’t conform to traditional
gender roles. Transphobia can prevent transgender and gender-nonconforming people
from living full lives free from harm. It can also create subtle and overt forms of
discrimination such as being denied jobs, housing, or health care based on an
individual's transgender or gender non-conforming identity.

Class Key Terms

Cost of Living: The income required to maintain a specific standard of living, often
calculated by the average costs of goods and services utilized by an individual or group
of people.
Standard of Living: A measure of the consumption of goods and services by
individuals or groups of people. This includes the levels of wealth, wellness, and
material goods available to those in a particular region or class.

The Gig Economy: Hiring temporary, independent, or short-term workers to perform

jobs typically in the service sector. Today, the gig economy reflects the economy's
failure to provide sufficient opportunities for stable, long-term work with access to
important benefits.

Sexuality Key Terms

Chosen vs. legal name: A chosen name, also known as a preferred name, is what a
person actively uses and wishes to be referred to as in the present moment. A legal
name, also known as a birth or given name, may not match a person’s preferred name
but may be present on government documents and IDs. There are many institutional
barriers that make changing a legal name inaccessible. Using a person’s legal name
over their preferred name without permission is harassment: see Deadname.

Deadname: The birth and/or legal name no longer used after somebody changes their
name, often in the process of gender transition. Referencing a person’s deadname can
be accidental or an intentional act of harassment. It can be both a microaggression and
macroagression. Like gender pronouns, a person’s chosen name should always be
respected.

Homophobia: A fear or hatred of gay people. This fear is irrational, but someone

expressing homophobic attitudes may rationalize or attempt to explain the attitude as
normal.

LGBTQIA+: This acronym refers to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer,

Intersex, and Asexual. The acronym is often shortened to “LGBT” or “LGBTQ”. The
“+” symbolizes other gender and sexual minorities who may not identify with these
labels.
Queer: A gender identity/sexual orientation that does not conform to society’s
gender norms or sexual norms. Historically used as a slur against gay people, the term
has been adopted positively by many with non-conforming gender/sexual identities.

Rebirthday: The marking of a celebratory turning point, often associated in the

transgender community with announcing a chosen name, introducing new pronouns, or
starting hormone replacement therapy.

Sexual Identity: An individual’s self-conception based on their romantic and sexual

attractions to people of  different gender (heterosexual), the same gender (gay,
lesbian), multiple genders (bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual), or to few people of any
gender (asexual, demisexual). Sexual identity can be fluid, changing over time.

Sexual Preference: The various forms of sexual intercourse, stimulation, or gratification

a person enjoys giving and receiving.

Disability Key Terms

Ableism: A set of practices and beliefs assigning inferior value to individuals who have
developmental, emotional, physical or psychological disabilities, thereby devaluing and
limiting their potential.

Accessibility: The extent to which a facility is readily approachable and usable by

individuals with disabilities, particularly such areas as the personnel office, worksite, and
public areas.

Disability: The individual experience of ongoing physical or mental challenge.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), an individual with a
disability is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits
one or more major life activities.

Disability Justice: A social framework informed by the experiences of people with

disabilities that consider disability within intersectional frames (e.g., race, gender, class,
sexuality). The disability justice movement defines justice as representation, recognition
and the redistribution of power and resources for and with individuals with disabilities.

Disability Rights: Legal and social considerations for people with disabilities. This
movement’s goal is to secure equity within the disability community, including providing
social services that reduce societal barriers to ultimately increase self-determination for
individuals with disabilities.

Identity First Language: A form of self-identification wherein people with disabilities

choose to identify with a particular group of disabled people. This manner of
self-identification is meant to show a cultural affiliation with a specific group.

Invisible Disabilities: The Invisible Disabilities Association defines this as, “symptoms
such as debilitating pain, fatigue, dizziness, cognitive dysfunctions, brain injuries,
learning differences and mental health disorders, as well as hearing and vision
impairments. These are not always obvious to the onlooker, but can sometimes or
always limit daily activities, range from mild challenges to severe limitations, and vary
from person to person.”

Medical Model of Disability: A perception of disability that views difference as

something to be clinically ‘fixed’ through the use of medical treatments, even in
situations where the difference does not cause pain or illness. This model devalues
human bodies that differ from a perceived norm.

Normalcy: The concept that there is a typical and average set of human behaviors and
physical and psychological characteristics, and that deviation from these makes a
person abnormal, deviant or defective.

People First Language: A way of communication which highlights the person and not
their physical limitations. This manner of communication is aimed at mitigating the
marginalization people with disabilities encounter in everyday communication.

Social Construction of Disability: The idea that disability is a social construction. It

does not deny the existence of individuals’ biological and/or psychological differences,
but emphasizes that societal norms, human activities and political actions attribute
particular meaning to these differences, often with negative consequences.