This
paper aims to raise particular aspects of some terminology in
common usage and clarify issues that arise from using it.
1) WORDS/TERMS/ACRONYMS THAT ARE SOMETIMES USED INCORRECTLY, CONFUSINGLY
OR INAPPROPRIATELY
Diversity
Diversity
means taking whatever is being described and ensuring that its
full extent/range/variety and components have been identified.
Comment
The
term diversity is often used to describe a recognition of the
range of whatever is being described, somehow implying, when associated
with issues of equality, that this is a ‘good thing’
in its own right. It indicates that it is important to acknowledge
differences as opposed to the idea of ‘treating everyone
the same’ (see below). However it does not automatically
mean that all the ‘diverse’ aspects are equally valued,
respected and treated. When referring to people it may even imply
that there are different ‘species’ of people. And
its increasingly common use often fails to acknowledge or encompass
negatives such as racism or discrimination. While it is clearly
important to ensure that all aspects of whatever is being described
are identified, care needs to be taken in assuming that diversity
means equality for all those aspects. For example, ‘valuing
diversity’ (usually meaning ‘society’ and its
cultural, linguistic, religious and ethnic diversity), while meaning
that all aspects have been identified, does not mean that all
these aspects are equally valued unless this is specifically spelt
out. ‘Different but equal’ needs to be part of the
use of the term.
‘Managing
diversity’ is often associated with the ‘business
case’ for ‘equal opportunity’ – the very
term ‘managing’ somehow makes the issue problematic.
Ethnic
Ethnic
refers to aspects of what is being described specific to their
ethnicity.
Comment
The
term ‘ethnic’ is often mis-used to describe something.
For example, it is a misnomer to use the term ‘ethnic food’.
The implication is that it is about the food that black people
usually eat without actually saying that it is not about the food
that white people eat. It has overtones of ‘them’
and ‘us’. But it is factually incorrect because everyone
has an ethnicity, not just black people. In reality, it is often
used to mean something associated with black people, about black
people or people from an ‘ethnicity’ different from
‘ours’. For example, ‘ethnic people’,
‘ethnic food’, ‘ethnic clothes’, ‘ethnic
music’, ‘ethnic furniture’ and ‘ethnic
art’ are used specifically as not about white European people/things.
Because everyone has an ethnicity the terms used in this way are
a nonsense, in principle.
Furthermore
it is often associated with other cultural, national, tribal or
racial differences from a colonialist perspective, thereby suggesting
inferiority.
Equal
Opportunities
Providing
equal opportunities for all.
Comment
Equal
opportunities are not the same as equality (see below).
The
term ‘Equal Opportunities’ is sometime used to refer
just to issues of gender/sex. This is reinforced by the title
of the Equal Opportunities Commission. What is covered needs to
be explicitly addressed.
The
term is often loosely associated with issues around employment
and access to services. It has a sense of levelling the playing
field and ‘allowing’ everyone the opportunity to compete
for jobs, as opposed to the more radical approach of equality
of outcome, equal share and equal representation.
BME
These
initials mean ‘Black (or black) and (other) minority ethnic’
groups.
Comment
There
is something distasteful about representing groups of people by
initials, especially when such groups already experience disadvantage
and discrimination in British society. And it is often used without
any explanation or attempt to acknowledge its use in this way.
Furthermore, white people are not defined as WME – a ‘white
majority ethnic’ group. While there is a recognisable and
accepted issue in the length of the phrase (in terms of word number)
and a consequent temptation to shorten it by using initials, such
a temptation should be avoided unless all groups are addressed
equally. In the meantime, because it reinforces the difference
between ‘us’ and ‘them’, differences that
are made explicit by racism, the full phrase should be used.
BME
is often used to mean ‘black and minority ethnic groups’,
thus implying that ‘black’ people do not belong, in
this society, to a minority ethnic group. The phrase itself, spelt
out, should therefore be ‘black and other minority ethnic’
groups.
Decent/proper
Care
needs to be taken in using these words to ensure that they are
not judgments made by a standard based on ethnocentric or social-class-based
assumptions of what is ‘decent’ or ‘proper’.
Normal
While
this word could be used with reference to the norm – in
a sense the ‘average’ or the ‘usual’ -
it is sometimes used to imply deviation, abnormality or from an
ethnocentric perspective. For example, a question regarding Halal
meat at mealtime, ‘Asian or normal?’
Hard-to-reach
groups
Groups
which are difficult to access, physically or socially.
Comment
This
term has been commonly used to describe groups, often minority
ethnic groups, that are not statistically represented or reflected
according to their numbers among the population under consideration.
It has often been used, perhaps unintentionally, to describe groups
that it is known should be represented but, for whatever reason,
are not. But it nearly always implies that, somehow, the reason
that they are ‘hard-to-reach’ lies with the groups
themselves. It tends to problematise such groups, seeing them
as the cause of their apparent exclusion, rather than examining
the reasons why they are not yet included. There are many possible
explanations for this situation – including perceptions
of them as being ‘difficult’, unfamiliar and requiring
precious and limited time and resources. If they are perceived
in this way that is likely to influence the way they are viewed
and whether they are included on equal terms. The groups that
are usually described in this way are Travellers/Gypsies, refugees/asylum-seekers
and other minority ethnic groups. This term as applied to them
is unacceptable. Perhaps ‘groups not yet included’,
‘groups not yet reached or unreached’ would be better
terms, thus placing the responsibility firmly on those whose duty
it is to ‘reach’ or ’include’. Some services
themselves might sometimes be described as ‘hard-to-reach
services’.
‘Funny’
name
Names
that are unusual to a person or difficult for them to pronounce
are sometimes referred to as ‘funny names’. Names
are a fundamental aspect of everyone’s persona and should
be treated with respect. Correct pronunciation of the full name
should be an important aspect of this respect.
Tolerant
This
term is usually intended to have a positive meaning but often
means ‘putting up with’, rather than being ‘accepted’.
2)
WORDS/TERMS WHOSE COMMON-USAGE/ MEANING COULD BE RE-ASSESSED
Inclusion
Inclusion
is a process of identifying, understanding and breaking down the
barriers to participation and belonging.
(This
definition was devised and agreed by members of the national Early
Childhood Forum in June 2003)
Comment
At
the core of inclusion is an assertion that ‘special needs’
is not a separate category. All children have needs; no child
has the same needs at different stages of his or her development;
all have equal rights to have their needs met in the form of educational
provision that gives them a realistic chance of reaching their
full potential. (OFSTED, LEA Strategy for the inclusion of pupils
with SEN, 2002)
The
term has usually been used to refer to including children with
special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities in mainstream
education/society. It is used to counter assumptions about such
children needing to be educated separately because of their needs.
While this point is clearly important, the proposed definition
above takes the issue to a wider perspective and addresses all
forms of discrimination and disadvantage, both historically and
in the present, as being about the achievement of equality for
all – including on grounds of sex/gender, ethnicity, skin
colour, physical features, language, ability/disability, special
educational needs, culture, religion/belief and socio-economic/family
background.
The
term is also often used within official documents to describe
or be linked to issues of community cohesion without addressing
the implications of racism (see above, diversity). The concern
is that (like the term equal opportunity) issues of gender and
disability are sometimes given priority while issues of ‘race’
are marginalised.
Inclusive
Practice
Inclusive
practice enables all children to fully participate and belong
in any mainstream early years provision.
Comment
Inclusive
practice targets support, training and resources in order to foster
every child’s equality and participation in all aspects
of life and learning in the provision.
Equality
Equality
is the result of putting the process of inclusion fully into practice.
Comment
Basically
it consists of equality of access, equality of opportunity and
anti-discriminatory practices, policies and procedures. Being
equal in this context means having equal rights and status. These
are not necessarily the same rights – children may not have
the same rights as adults, for example in having gainful employment.
A state of equality would be one where the rights and entitlements
of adults and children are met. Achieving equality means equal
treatment, equal shares and equal representation and identifying
and addressing attitudinal, behavioural, institutional and discriminatory
barriers to everything that is available, including recruitment
and promotion of staff at all levels, admissions and curricular
entitlement, actively promoting organisational change and appropriate
service provision, complying with anti-discriminatory legislation
and ensuring equality of access to employment, services and provision.
It means monitoring the outcomes at every stage by collecting,
analysing and evaluating relevant data to ensure that there is
no discrimination in all aspects of progress and achievement.
It should also include promoting positive attitudes and behaviour
to people who are different from themselves and countering the
learning of negative attitudes and behaviour that may have already
been learnt.
Different
Sometimes
this word is used in ways that implies that something is ‘different’
from ‘us’ or from the way ‘we’ do it and
implies being less acceptable or worthy. It may sometimes be more
accurate to refer to the ‘variety’ of whatever is
being discussed therefore removing any comparative aspects.
Anti-Semitic
This
is usually used to refer to racism/discrimination against Jewish
people. But Arabic people are also of Semitic origin.
3)
WORDS THAT ARE NO LONGER ‘ACCEPTABLE’
Coloured
(person)
This
word, sometimes used to describe a person, is seldom used in a
deliberately negative/offensive way. However it is a word that
is inappropriate, harking back to the past and issues of colonialism
etc. (see under Black/black)
Half-caste
This
term is sometimes used to describe a child whose parents each
have a different ethnic or cultural background. It may be used
negatively or in a way that appears unaware of its implications.
By breaking down the term the origins of hierarchy (caste) and
only being ‘half’ can be identified. It is therefore
unacceptable. Other terms – ‘mixed race’, ‘dual
heritage’, ‘mixed parentage’ or ‘multiple
heritage’ may be used. There are advocates of all these
terms.
4)
TERMS/PHRASES THAT MAY NEED CLARIFICATION/EXPLANATION
Travellers/Gypsies
Both
these terms have a capital initial letter.
Comment
Traveller
has a capital ‘T’ to distinguish it from other ‘travellers’
and to ensure that its individual/unique status is acknowledged
eg. not commercial travellers, travellers on trains etc. Gypsy
has a capital ‘G’ to designate its specific status
and as an ethnic group in the same way as a person of a particular
nationality/ethnic group has a capital letter.
Treating
children all the same
Treating
children in the same way.
Comment
Treating
people equally does not necessarily mean treating them in the
same way. Treating people in different ways may also be treating
them equally, depending on/taking account of their individual
needs and circumstances. People who have more than one child in
their family will recognise that they are unlikely to treat them
in the same way because their needs, personalities and abilities
are likely to vary.
Multicultural
This
means comprising/including a variety of/many cultures.
Comment
This
is sometimes misused in referring to such things as a ‘multicultural
doll’, ‘multicultural dolls’ or ‘multicultural
people’. Each doll or person referred to usually has one
culture only. Even if a person/doll is seen as having more than
one culture that is not how the words are commonly intended. They
usually mean :
• ‘multicultural doll’ - a ‘doll which
is not white’
• ‘multicultural dolls’ - ‘dolls reflecting
our multicultural society’, but perhaps more realistically
‘black dolls’ ie. not including white dolls
• ‘multicultural people’ - ‘black people’
The
term ‘multicultural resources’ should mean resources
reflecting the multicultural nature of our society. It is often
used, however, to mean resources only depicting black people and
their cultures. Similarly ‘multicultural education’
(MCE) often excludes the cultures of white people. While the original
intention was to ensure that the cultures of black people were
included in educational provision, the fact that white people’s
cultures were not seen as an integral part of MCE created, yet
again, a ‘them’ and ‘us’ dichotomy and
encouraged the notion that only black people have a culture. Interestingly
the term ‘multicultural’ does not usually include
the differences and diversity of white people’s cultures.
It continues to render the term ‘white’ as being homogeneous
and unproblematic.
Race
The
division of groups of people into categories based on supposedly
‘objective’ characteristics.
Comment
It
is now widely accepted that these differences are socially constructed,
with biological variations between people of the same ‘race’
being as wide, or wider than, variations between people of notionally
different ‘races’. There is no scientific basis for
such categorisation. Furthermore, built into the construction
is the idea that people of some ‘races’ are inherently
superior to others. As such, the concept of ‘race is now
discredited. However, the term continues to be used as it relates
to ‘racism’ or ‘racialism’, primary issues
confronting society today. One way to indicate and recognise the
negative origins of the term ‘race’ is to put it in
inverted commas.
Racial
hierarchy
This
means ranking people according to aspects of their lives, their
physical appearances or things in an order of superiority/inferiority,
where some are considered to be more important, more worthy, than
others, based on their, or its, ethnicity. For example, people
- their language, skin colour, physical features, culture, religion,
ethnicity, books – who wrote them, childrearing practices
– whose are considered the ‘best’ etc.
Black/black
Historically
some white people, who were not overtly or intentionally racist,
thought that using the term Black or black was somehow insulting
to the person concerned. It was perhaps drawing attention to ‘black’
skin colour which, at that time in the minds of many white people,
was seen as an undesirable and unfortunate feature. In their minds
such people were to be pitied for this ‘aberration’
rather than just having a skin colour different from theirs. That
is one of the reasons that the term ‘coloured’ came
into use, as a term that was not intentionally insulting and could
not be seen as intentionally offending anyone. The term has different
origins in the United States and South Africa.
The
campaign in the United States in the nineteen sixties, largely
by Black/black people themselves, to affirm the term Black/black
by popularising the phrase ‘Black is beautiful’ played
a very significant role in ensuring that the term came to be used
positively and with pride, both in Britain and in the USA. As
well as affirming black as a skin colour, the term black is now
widely used to describe people who have a skin colour other than
white and who share a common experience of racism – it is
used as a political term, one of solidarity. However, despite
this common usage, some minority ethnic groups of people do not
wish to define themselves in this way and prefer to be defined
by their nationality, country of origin or in some other way.
The
South Africa context of the Black Conscious Movement is very similar
to the American experience of creating a positive identity for
black people. It was also used to unify the oppressed people during
apartheid who had been classified as African, Indian and Coloured
under the Population Registration Act.
The
terms ‘Black’ and ‘black’ are used by
different people in different ways. Some use the term Black to
mean people of African Caribbean origin. There are continual discussions
about this term.
Phrases
like ‘black tea/coffee’, ‘blackboard’,
’black bin liner’, ‘Baa Baa black sheep’
are descriptive and should not be assumed to be negative. On the
other hand care should be used in referring to terms such as ‘black
look’ and ‘blacklist’ because there are more
such terms that use black negatively than positively, compared
with the term ‘white’. One of the exceptions to this
is ‘in the black’.
Black/white?
In
the eighties the term black was sometimes used to mean anyone
who experienced racism. This became a nonsense when such people
as Gypsies, Jewish and Irish people (who clearly experience racism
but have a ‘white’ skin colour) were described as
‘black’, even though it was used in the political
sense. This form of racism can be described as ‘xenoracism’.
The issue of whether Turkish people, along with Kosovans, Albanians
and Chechnyans can be described as white remains a topic for discussion.
Non-white
The
term non-white is generally unacceptable as it indicates that
‘white’ is the norm and that somehow anything else
is judged against that. While there are more white people than
black people living in this country, nevertheless ‘non-white’
sets up ‘white’ as the standard. In a non-racist society
this distinction might matter less but in a society where racism
is deeply embedded it re-enforces a notion of superiority/inferiority.
An analogy might be describing men as non-women/women as non-men
and white people as non-black.
Beauty
For
many of the reasons given above the term ‘beauty’
is often assumed only to apply to people whose skin colours or
physical features are not of black African, Caribbean or indigenous
people of America, New Zealand or Australia. While these concepts
are beginning to change (i.e. in some ‘beauty’ contests
and in the media generally) the term remains often culture or
value-loaded.
Well-brought-up
To
describe a child as well brought up begs the question as to by
what and whose standards. There is a great variety of ways to
bring-up a child, most of which are appropriate to that family.
We all can share these ways together and learn from each other.
5)
WORDS THAT MAY HAVE ‘LOADED’ AND/OR POSSIBLE PEJORATIVE/NEGATIVE
MEANINGS OR ASSOCIATIONS
There
are some words that although by a strict dictionary definition
appear to be neutral, are actually ‘loaded’ with negative
associations. There are other words that, when associated with
some other words, influence each other even when one of the original
words is no longer there. For example, the term ‘asylum-seeker’
becomes negative when associated with ‘bogus’ or ‘influx’
so that even when the first word is taken away the negative association
remains. Sara Ahmed** describes this as ‘stickiness’,
being ‘dependent on past histories of association that often
‘work through concealment’. As a consequence the use
of such terms needs to be carefully considered if they are not
to have hidden meanings alongside their strict meanings.
Influx
This
is often used negatively in association with people or something
that is unwelcome. For example, an influx of asylum seekers.
Civilised
This
may be used to describe people from countries with whom ‘we’
are familiar and seldom used to describe those from countries
with whom ‘we’ are unfamiliar or less familiar and
less like ‘us’. The latter group of countries tends
to include African countries disproportionately. People from such
countries are often described as having a ‘culture’
in contrast to those who are ‘civilised’.
Jungle
This
term strictly means a relatively impenetrable environment but
is often used more or less negatively to indicate the places where
black African people live.
Mud
hut
This
is often used in a negative, perhaps unconscious way meaning that
the people who live in them are somehow naïve and simple.
It may not be recognised that this may be an appropriate way of
living in that climate and environment – Nelson Mandela
grew up in a ‘mud hut’. At the same time it is often
not recognised that some African countries have cities with skyscrapers.
The visual picture for children is thus distorted.
Primitive
This
word is often used to describe something or someone who does not
live the equivalent ‘advanced’ lifestyle to ‘us’.
In this sense it is negative, implying simplicity, ignorance and
perhaps not having the equivalent human feelings as ‘us’.
Again it is often associated with a skin colour that is not white.
Asylum
seeker
This
term means a person who has crossed an international border and
is seeking safety in another country. It is often used in a pejorative
way. The term ‘refugee’ is also sometimes used pejoratively,
but perhaps less so than ‘asylum seeker’. A positive
term to describe all people coming to live in Britain - asylum-seekers,
refugees and migrants, temporarily or permanently - is ‘new
arrivals’.
Names
of pieces of clothing
It
is important to use the correct name for all pieces of clothing.
For example, the head covering used by some Arab men is a keffiyeh
(the spelling may vary), not a ‘tea-towel’.
LAST
WORDS
The
above examples and suggestions do not constitute a definitive
list of possibilities. Other suggestions, comments or ideas are
welcome.
*
Duncan Campbell in the Guardian (25 November 2002) of
political correctness - ‘that masterly invention by
conservative commentators of a problem that does not exist’
**Sara
Ahmed (2004) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh
University Press
JANE LANE 77 BAKER STREET, READING RG1 7XY
Advocate worker for racial equality in the early years
Tel/Fax 0118 959 7834
Email : jane@janelane.plus.com
