AAPI: Acronym for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Ability: The quality of having the means or skill to do something. Ability is not permanent, can fluctuate throughout one’s life, and is another aspect of diversity in our communities. Disabilities (see Disability) do not necessarily limit people unless society imposes assumptions that do not account for the variation in people’s abilities (see Social Identities, Oppression).⁷⁹
Ableism/Ableist: The pervasive system of discrimination (see Discrimination) and exclusion that oppresses (see Oppression) people who are differently abled (see Ability), including differences in mental, cognitive, emotional, and/or physical abilities, through attitudes, actions, or institutional policies (see Culture).⁷⁹
Ali Baba: Targets Iraqi and Middle Eastern people; implies suspicious or criminal activity.²⁰
Alligator/Gator Bait: Targets Black and Aftrican American people, especially children; used more commonly in states where alligators are found- particularly Florida; derived from when Aftrican American and Black babies/children were supposedly used as bait by white people in the US to catch alligators.²¹᠈²²
Ally: A term relating generally to individuals who support marginalized groups. “Ally” is not an identity, and allyship (see Allyship) is an ongoing process of learning that includes action (see Social Justice, Cultural Humility).¹
Allyship: The action of working to end oppression through support of, and as an advocate with and for, a group other than one’s own (see Social Justice, Cultural Humility).⁷⁹
African American Vernacular English (AAVE): The exact origins are still debated, whoever, largely fall into two camps: 1) supports the dialect hypothesis, which proposes that the earliest forms of AAVE emerged from African slaves coming in contact with indentured servants and learning their dialect in order to communicate with the servants and each other 2) the Creole hypothesis proposes that AAVE began by mixing various West African languages with English to create a new means to communicate, and that over time this creole converged with standard English (see Community, Culture, Social Identities).
Creolization is a common process that results from lots of people who speak different languages needing a common means to communicate and mixing their languages together to make one. Most regions with large slave plantations developed creoles since West Africa has hundreds of unique languages and cultures which European slave owners forced onto shared plantations. The term creole itself is drawn from Haitian Creole, which emerged as a direct result of the slave trade.
Since non-AAVE speakers don’t understand this system it’s often ignorantly viewed as “random” or “broken” despite communicating highly precise information (see Oppression). Beyond the three tenses of standard English: past, present, and future, AAVE breaks each tense into several phases. For example, “I’mma buy it” indicates one is about to buy something, while “I gonna buy it” indicates one will buy it at some undefined future time.⁸²
Africoon: Targets Black and African American people; combination of African and Coon.¹⁹
Ageism: The pervasive system of prejudice and discrimination (see Discrimination, Stereotypes) that marginalizes people based on their age. This can be perpetuated through stereotypes of youthfulness versus life at an older age and through oppressive policies (see Oppression, Culture) that subordinate and exclude older folks. Ageism can impact different age groups besides older folks, such as children who are stereotyped as being unable to make big decisions.⁷⁹
Akata: Targets Black and African American people; West African (Yoruba) term for African-Americans, meaning ancestors of slaves or “cotton picker.”¹⁹
Amigo: Targets Hispanic and Latina/Latino/LatinX people; translation from Spanish to English is friend or comrade; the tones in which this term is used largely impacts whether it is considered an ethnic or racial slur; avoid using this term with individuals you are not acquainted with.¹⁹᠈⁷⁸
Ann: Targets “white-acting” African American and Black womxn (see Womxn); although Ann (or Miss Ann) is a derisive reference to white womxn, it also applies to any Black or African American womxn “who is deemed to be acting as though she is white”.²³
Ape: Targets Aftrican American and Black People; refers to outdated theories ascribing cultural differences between ethnic groups as being linked to their evolutionary distance from chimpanzees.²¹᠈²⁵
Apple: Targets Native/Indigenous people; “someone who is red on the outside, white on the inside”, implying assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).²⁶
Armo: Targets Armenian/Armenian American people; more commonly used in Southern California.²⁷᠈²⁸
Aunt Jemima, Aunt Jane, Aunt Mary, Aunt Sally: Targets Black and Aftrican American womxn (see Womxn); a Black or African American womxn who “kisses up to” or is a “sellout” to white people, counterpart of “Uncle Tom” (see Uncle Tom).²⁶
BIPOC: Acronym for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. It acknowledges the specific histories of Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islanders (API), and Native people within the United States without collapsing them into a homogenous category of people of color.¹
Banana or Twinkie: Targets AAPI (see AAPI) people; “someone who is yellow on the outside, white on the inside,” implying assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).²⁹᠈³⁰
Beaner/Beaney: Targets Mexican/Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; thought to originate from Califronia in 1969-1970.³³
Bear: Targets Black and African American people; “Black educated and rich.”¹⁹
Berry/Cherry/Fruit Picker: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; refers to Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX indviduals who work berry fields in California, specifically undocumented immigrants receiving unfair wages (see Undocumented Immigrants, Social Justice).¹⁹
Big Red: Targets Native/Indigenous people; “fat Native person.”¹⁹
Blackanese: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Black/AAPI (see AAPI).¹⁹
Black Barbie: Targets Black and African American people, particularly womxn; refers to a Black womxn (see Womxn) trying to look like a white womxn.¹⁹
Black Bean/Blaxican: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Black/Mexican.¹⁹
BlaQ, BlaQueer: Folks of Black/African descent (see Folx) and/or from the African diaspora who recognize their queerness/LGBTQIA+ identity as a salient identity attached to their Blackness and vice versa.⁷⁹
Blew, Blue: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Black/Jewish.¹⁹
Body Image: How a person feels, acts, and thinks about their body. Attitudes about our own body and bodies in general are shaped by our communities (see Community), families, cultures (see Culture), media, and our own perceptions (see Social Identities, Internalized Oppression).⁷⁹
Body Policing: any behavior which (indirectly or directly, intentionally or unintentionally) attempts to correct or control a person’s actions regarding their own physical body, frequently with regards to gender expression or size (see Gender Expression, Body Image, Sizeism, Social Identities, Oppression).⁷⁹
Bonky: Targets African American and Black people; refers to Black people who act white; implies assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).¹⁹
Border Bunny, Border Hopper, Border Bandit, Fence Fairy, Fence Hopper, Grasshopper: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; “hopping the border to get into America.”¹⁹
Border Nigger: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; similar to nigger (see Nigger), but for Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX individuals.¹⁹
Brother, Bro: Targets Black and African American people; used by Black people in an effort to help unify their race; also used by non-black people in a derogatory manner (see Derogatory) or try to identify with the Black race (see Race, Ethnicity).¹⁹
Bruised Banana: Targets AAPI (see AAPI) people; a “banana” (see Banana) that acts Black.¹⁹
Buck: Targets Native/Indigenous people; male equivalent of “squaw” (see Squaw).¹⁹
Buddahead: Targets AAPI people; also used by mainland Japanese Americans to refer to Hawaiian Japanese Americans post World War II.³⁴᠈³⁵
Buffalo Jockey: Targets Native/Indigenous people.¹⁹
Buffalo Soldier: Targets Black and African American; “when the U.S. government was clearing the West of Native Americans, they sent many black units to attack and the Indigenous people thought they looked like buffalo.”¹⁹
Burrito: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; based on saying, “you are what you eat”; many versions, such as burrito-head and burrito-brain.¹⁹
Burnt Rice: Targets “darker-skinned” AAPI (see AAPI).¹⁹
Burrhead: Targets Aftrican American and Black people; referencing Afro-textured hair.²⁶
California Roll: Targets mixed/multiracial people; “much like the food, a mix of American and Asian” or AAPI (see AAPI).¹⁹
Calf: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Black/white, specifically child with white mother and Black father.¹⁹
Camel Jockey: Targets Middle Eastern people.³⁶
Camel Lips: Targets Black and African American people.¹⁹
Capitalism: An economic, political, and social system in which property, business, and industry are privately owned and directed towards making the greatest possible profits for successful organizations and people¹⁰; negatively impacts all marginalized communities (see Community, Culture, Colonialism, Cultural Humility, Oppression).
Caramel: Targets mixed/multiracial people; “not chocolate, not vanilla, caramel”.¹⁹
Charlie: Targets AAPI (see AAPI), particularly Vietnamese people; Vietnam War slang term used by American troops as a shorthand term for Vietnamese guerrillas; derived from verbal shorthand for “Victor Charlie,” the NATO phonetic alphabet for VC (abbreviation for Viet Cong).³⁷᠈³⁸᠈³⁹
Cheech: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; refers to famous Mexican, Cheech Marin.¹⁹
Cherry Nigger, Timber Nigger, Trail Nigger, Tundra Nigger: Targets Native/Indigenous people; similar to nigger (see Nigger), but for Native/Indigenous peole.¹⁹
Chico/Chica: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; Spanish for “little boy/girl”.¹⁹
Chief: Targets Native/Indigenous people.¹⁹
Chinaman: Targets Chinese and AAPI people (see AAPI); used during the gold rush and railway-construction eras in western North America.⁴⁰
Ching Chong: Targets Chinese and AAPI people (See AAPI); mocking the language of a person perceived of Chinese descent.¹⁹
Chink/Chinky: Targets Chinese and AAPI people (see AAPI); the cliche “chink in one’s armor” refers to an area of vulnerability. It has traditionally been used to refer to a weak spot in a figurative suit of armor; historical speculation believed this term was based on “the phenotype of Asian eyes” and unrecognized marginalization of Chinese workers “who pinged railroad ties to build America’s intercontinental railroad.”³¹
Chinkaboo: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Chinese/Black; chink+jigaboo (see Chink, Jigaboo).¹⁹
Chonky: Targets AAPI people (see AAPI); a person of Asian heritage with “white attributes” in either appearance or personality; implies assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).⁴¹
Christ–Killer: Targets Jewish people.⁴²᠈⁴³
Choc-Ice: Targets Black and Aftrican American people; someone who is “Black on the outside, white on the inside,” implying assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).⁴⁴᠈⁴⁵
Cholo/Chola: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/Latinx, Indigenous, and Mestizo people; commonly denotes “US Hispanic gangster types.”¹⁹᠈⁴⁶᠈⁴⁷
Cisgender (pronounced sis-gender): A term used to refer to an individual whose gender identity (see Gender Identity) aligns with the one associated with the sex assigned to them at birth (see Biological Sex, AFAB, AMAB). The prefix cis- comes from the Latin word for “on the same side as.” People who are both cisgender and heterosexual (see Heterosexual) are sometimes referred to as cishet (pronounced “cis-het”) individuals. The term cisgender is not a slur.¹ (see LGBTQIA+ Related Slurs and Terminology)
Cisnormativity: The assumption that everyone is cisgender (see Cisgender) and that being cisgender is superior to all other genders. This includes the often implicitly held idea that being cisgender is the norm and that other genders are “different” or “abnormal” (see Cissexism/Genderism).¹ (see LGBTQIA+ Related Slurs and Terminology)
Cissexism/Genderism: Prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination (see Discrimination) on the basis of sex (see Biological Sex), specifically towards transgender (see Transgender) and gender-expansive people (see Gender-Expansive). It is the pervasive system of discrimination and exclusion founded on the belief that there are, and should be, only two genders and that one’s gender or most aspects of it, are inevitably tied to assigned sex (see Biological Sex). This system oppresses (see Oppression) people whose gender and/or gender expression (see Gender, Gender Expression) falls outside of cis-normative constructs. Within cissexism, cisgender people (see Cisgender) are the dominant group and trans/ gender non-conforming (see Gender Nonconforming) people are the oppressed group.⁷⁹ (see LGBTQIA+ Related Slurs and Terminology)
Cocoa Puff: Targets Black and African American people; reference to Black people with “afros or puffy hair.”¹⁹
Coconut: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/Latinx and AAPI people; named after nut from a coconut palm; “someone who is brown on the inside and white on the outside,” implying assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).²⁹᠈³⁰᠈⁴⁸᠈⁴⁹
Colonialism: The belief in and support of the system [or ideology] of one country controlling another (see Community, Culture, Capitalism, Cultural Humility, Oppression).¹⁰
Colorism/Colourism: Prejudice or discrimination (see Discrimination, Stereotype) against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group (see Oppression, Discrimination).¹⁸
Coke Camel, Mule: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; refers to drug trafficking.¹⁹
Community: A group of people who have similar interest or who want to achieve something together (see Culture, Social Identity).¹⁰
Coolie: Targets AAPI people, particularly Chinese and India-Caribbean people; originally used in the 19th century for Chinese railroad laborers, “unskilled Asian laborer”.⁵⁰᠈⁵¹
Coon: Targets Black and African American people; may originate from Portuguese barracão or Spanish barracón, a type of barracks historically used for the internment of slaves or criminals.⁵²᠈⁵³᠈⁵⁴
Consent: Permission or agreement.¹⁰
Crow/Jim Crow: Targets African American and Black people.⁵⁵
Cultural Humility: An approach to engagement across differences that acknowledges systems of oppression and embodies the following key practices: (1) a lifelong commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique, (2) a desire to fix power imbalances where none ought to exist, and (3) aspiring to develop partnerships with people and groups who advocate for others on a systemic level. (Melanie Tervalon & Jann Murray-García, 1998)⁷⁹
Culture: A learned set of values, beliefs, customs, norms, and perceptions shared by a group of people that provide a general design for living and patterns for interpreting life. “Culture is those deep, common, unstated, learned experiences which members of a given culture share, which they communicate without knowing, and which form the backdrop against which all other events are judged (see Community, Social Identities).”⁷⁹
Darky, Darkey, Darkie: Targets Black and African American people; this term used to be considered mild and polite before it took on a derogatory (see Derogatory) and provocative meaning.¹⁸᠈⁵⁶
Diesel: Targets Native/Indigenous people; diesel engine/diesel “injun” (see Injun).¹⁹
Dink: Targets AAPI, particularly Vietnamese, people; origins are found in 1965-1970 Americanism; used as a disparaging term for a North Vietnamese soldier or guerrilla in the Vietnam War.⁵⁷
Discrimination: Inequitable actions carried out by members of a dominant group or its representatives against members of a marginalized or minoritized group (see Oppression).⁷⁹
Dune Coon: Targets Middle Eastern, particularly Arabian people; equivalent of “sand nigger” (see Nigger, Sand Nigger).⁵⁸᠈⁵⁹
Derogatory: showing strong disapproval and not showing respect; expressing criticism or insult (see Oppression, Discrimination).¹⁰
Eight ball/8ball: Targets African American and Black people; refers to the black ball in pool; slang usually used disparagingly.⁶⁰
Empathy: The ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation (see Ally, Allyship, Cultural Humility, Social Justice).¹⁰
Ethnicity: A social construct that 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 geographical base (see Community, Culture, Race, Social Identity).⁷⁹
Eyetie: Targets Italian people; originated through the mispronunciation of “Italian” as “Eye-talian” and is typically used disparagingly, especially during World War II.²⁸᠈⁶¹
Field Nigger, House Nigger: Targets Black and African American people¹; a term used to label Black people who choose not to identify with popular white society and culture (see Culture), as opposed to “house niggers”–Black people who “bend over backwards to win or maintain favor with whites while relishing in the fact that they at least reside in the house with the master rather then outside with the majority of blacks (see Colorism).”¹⁹
Garden Gnome: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people, “they do all the gardening for rich white people”¹⁹; also targets Black and African American people, has been associated with “The Lawn Jockey” (see Lawn Jockey).
Gender: Broadly, gender is a set of socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate (see Social Identities, Culture).¹
Generational Trauma/Intergenerational Trauma: acknowledges that exposure to extremely adverse events can impact individuals to such a great extent that their offspring may find themselves negatively impacted from their parents’ post‐traumatic state. It is also said that the experience of trauma – or more accurately the effect of that experience – can be “passed” somehow from one generation to the next, both biologically (i.e. DNA function or gene transcription) as well as environmentally (i.e. increased risk of parent substance abuse, depression, etc.).⁸³
Ghetto, Ratchet: Targets Black and African American people; Many Black people are forced into poor, crowded neighborhoods, similar to poor Jewish neighborhoods called “Ghettoes.” This is also used to describe something or someone as cheap, worn out, poor, dangerous, etc. Reference to housing communities that are impoverished and disproportionately impact people of color (see BIPOC) associates people of color with these negative characteristics.⁷⁹
Golliwog, Golliwogg: Targets dark-skinned people, particularly Afro-Caribbeans; golliwogs are a type of Black doll “with very dark, often jet black skin, large white-rimmed eyes, red or white clown lips, and wild, frizzy hair”; eventually became a derogatory (see Derogatory) and provocative term against people with dark skin.³²
Gook, Gook-eye, Gooky: Targets AAPI people (see AAPI); term most likely dates back to the Philippine-American War (~1900) and has been used against a wide range of peoples, usually of Asian ethnicity (see Ethnicity); thought to originate in Korea either by referring Korea’s original name, “Hanguk”, or during the Korean War when Koreans would ask American GI’s “Mi Guk?” (“American?” in Korean) which sounded like they were saying “Me gook.”¹⁹
Groid: Targets Black and Afircan American people; derived from “negroid”.⁶⁴
Guido: Targets Italian Americans; derives from the Italian given name Guido; used mostly in Northeastern US as a stereotype (see Stereotype) for working-class, urban Italian Americans.³²᠈⁶⁵᠈⁶⁶
Half Breed: Targets mixed/multiracial people.¹⁹
Hate Crime: A crime, typically one involving violence, that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of ethnicity (see Ethnicity, Race), religion (see Spirituality), sexual orientation (see Sexual Orientation), or similar grounds (see Ally, Allyship, Cultural Humility, Empathy, Oppression, Social Justice).¹⁸
Hopefulness/”Hope Fullness”: The feeling or state of feeling hope.¹⁰
“Illegal Alien”: Targets undocumented immigrants (Undocumented Immigrant), typically Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; reduces undocumented immigrants to something less than human; fixates on legal status instead of people as individuals; asserts that some people belong here more than others do; as well as ignores political, social, and economic factors that impact people of color (see BIPOC, Ally, Allyship, Oppression, Social Justice).⁷⁹
Indian: Targets Native/Indigenous people; Indians come from India, not North/South America; offensive because original American settlers from Europe completely misnamed them.¹⁹
Injun: Targets Native/Indigenous people; corruption of “Indian”.⁵⁷
Internalized Oppression: The fear and self-hate of one or more of a person’s own identities that occurs for many individuals who have learned negative ideas about their identities throughout childhood (see Cultural Identities). One form of internalized oppression (see Oppression) is the acceptance of the myths and stereotypes (see Stereotype) applied to the oppressed group.⁷⁹
Intersectionality: Coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, this term refers to the overlap of social categorizations or identities such as race and ethnicity (see Race, Ethnicity), sexuality (see Sexuality, Sexual Orientation), gender (see Gender), disability (see Disability), geography, adoptee identity (see Adoptee), and class (see Socioeconomic Class) which exist in an individual or group of people that can contribute to discrimination (see Discrimination) or disadvantage (see Oppression).¹
Jezebel: Targets African American and Black womxn (see Womxn); portrayal of Black womxn as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype (see Stereotype). The descriptive words associated with this stereotype are singular in their focus: seductive, alluring, worldly, beguiling, tempting, and lewd. Culturally, white women, as a category, were portrayed as models of self-respect, self-control, and modesty – even sexual purity, but Black women were often portrayed as innately promiscuous, even predatory. This depiction of black women is signified by the name Jezebel. This term inflicts a reputation of being sexually seductive, and antithetical to the desexualized Mammy caricature (see Mammy).
The belief that Black people are sexually lewd predates the institution of slavery in America. European travelers to Africa found “scantily clad natives”. This semi-nudity was misinterpreted as lewdness. White Europeans, locked into the racial ethnocentrism of the 17th century, saw African polygamy and tribal dances as proof of the African’s uncontrolled sexual lust. From the early 1630s to the present, Black American women of all shades have been portrayed as hypersexual “bad-black-girls.”¹¹
Jigaboo, Jig(g), Jigger: Targets African American and Black people “with stereotypical black features (e.g. dark skin, wide nose, etc.)”; from a Bantu verb tshikabo meaning “they bow the head docilely”, indicating meek or servile individuals.¹⁸᠈⁶⁷
Klooch: Targets Native/Indigenous people; common slur for Alaskan Natives.¹⁹
Knee Jerk: Targets Native/Indigenous people; subset of Native Americans indicating person who was at Wounded Knee in South Dakota during the ’70s.¹⁹
Latinx: (Pronounced Latin-ex or la-TEEN-ex) An inclusive, gender-neutral term–sometimes used in place of the gendered (see Gender), binary (see Binary) terms Latino or Latina–used to describe a person of Latin-American origin or descent. While many in the progressive space use this term, 2019 Pew research shows that, while one-in-four U.S. Hispanics have heard the term, only 23% of U.S. adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have heard the term, and just 3% say they use it to describe themselves.¹ (see LQBTQIA+ Slurs and Terminology)
Mammy: Targets Black and African American womxn (see Womxn); similar to Aunt Jemima (see Aunt Jemima); stereotype (see Stereotype) of Black womxn as nannies to white children, especially overweight (see Sizeism) Black womxn, as portrayed in “Gone With The Wind”.¹⁹ The desexualized Mammy is antithetical to the “seductive, alluring, worldly, beguiling, tempting, and lewd”, such as “bad Black-girls” or “Jezebel” (see Jezebel).¹¹
Manuel Labor: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; Mexicans residing in the United States are often used predominantly for manual labor; Manuel is also a common Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX name.¹⁹
Mau-Mau: Targets Black and African American people; originally referred to Kenyans of the Kikuyu tribe involved in the Mau Mau Rebellion in the 1950s.⁶⁸
Mehi: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; X’s (like J’s) are pronounced in Spanish like an English “H”; this slur is a mockery of their pronounciation.¹⁹
Mexicoon: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Mexican/Black; Mexican “Coon” (see Coon).¹⁹
Microaggressions: Brief and subtle behaviors, whether intentional or not, that communicate hostile, derogatory (see Derogatory), or negative messages of commonly oppressed identities (see Oppression, Social Identities). These actions cause harm through the invalidation of the target person’s identity and may reinforce stereotypes (see Stereotype). Examples of microaggressions include a person who is not white being told they speak “good English” or someone saying something is “gay” to mean they think something is bad.⁷⁹
Migger: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; “Mexican/Hispanics who act Black”; Mexican and Nigger (see Nigger).¹⁹
Misogynoir (pronounce mi- soj- uh-nwar): A term coined by queer (see Queer) Black feminist Moya Bailey to describe misogyny (see Misogyny) directed towards Black womxn (see Womxn) where race (see Race, Ethnicity) and gender (see Gender) both play roles in bias.¹
Misogyny: Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against womxn (see Womxn, Oppression); Mid 17th century from Greek misos ‘hatred’ + gunē ‘woman’.¹⁸
Mohow: Targets Native/Indigenous people; blends “mohawk” and “pow wow”.¹⁹
Mulatto: Targets mixed/multiracial people; usually refers to Black/white individuals, but can be used to target other mixed/multiracial individuals; the Spanish “Mullato” translates to “like a mule.”¹⁹
Mutt: Targets mixed/multiracial people; intended use of “mutt” refers to dogs of mixed breed.¹⁹
Nacho: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; refers to a culturally popular snack (see Culture).¹⁹
Nappy Head: Targets Black and African American people; refers to hair type.¹⁹
NASA: Targets African American and Black people; acronym for North American Street Ape.¹⁹
Negro: Targets African American and Black people; was once accepted, but now considered derogatory (see Derogatory).¹⁹
Niglet: Targets African American and Black children.⁶⁹
Nigger, Nigre, Nigress, Niggur, Nigga, Nigar, Nigguh: Targets Black and African American people; considered an international slur; the history of the word nigger is often traced to the Latin word niger, meaning Black. This word became the noun, Negro (Black person) in English, and the color Black in Spanish and Portuguese. In early modern French, niger became negre and, later, negress (Black womxn) (see Womxn) was unmistakably a part of language history.¹⁴
Night Fighter: Targets Black and African American people; originally coined in the Boer War when the British/Afrikaaneers were fighting the Zulus.¹⁹
Oppression: exists when one social group, whether knowingly or unconsciously, exploits another social group for its own benefit (see Ally, Allyship, Capitalism, Colonialism, Cultural Humility, Empathy, Social Justice).⁷⁹
Oreo: Targets African American and Black people; refers to a Black person who is perceived as acting white-black on the outside and white on the inside; implies assimilation to whit American Culture (see Apple, Banana/Twinkie, Coconut, Culture).⁷⁰᠈⁷¹᠈⁷²; also targets AAPI people; even more derogatory (see derogatory) form of Oriental (see Oriental).¹⁹
Oriental: Targets AAPI people; considered offensive because it dates back to “Orientalism,” when Asian people were considered savages and Asian womxn (see Womxn) were all seen as sexual objects.¹⁹
Paki: Targets Pakistanis, other South Asian and Middle Eastern people; shortened for “Pakistani”.¹⁸᠈⁶⁷᠈⁷³
Pancake Face/Pancake: Targets AAPI people.⁷⁴
Peeled Banana: Targets AAPI people; “Americanized Asians who try to act white”; implies assimilation to white American Culture (see Culture).¹⁹
Pinto: Targets Native/Indigenous people; Native/white; pinto horses are white and brown.¹⁹
Pollo: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; “the U.S. Border Patrol uses this term to refer to illegal aliens. Pollo means chicken in Spanish. Agents call the illegals Pollos on their service radios” (see Undocumented Immigrants).¹⁹
Prairie Nigger: Targets Native/Indigenous people; where Natives originate, or were sent; version of nigger (see Nigger).¹⁹
Quadroon: Targets African American and Black people; a person who is ¼ Black; coined during the Civil War and refers to how white you had to be in order to serve in the army.¹⁹
Rastus: Targets African American and Black people. ⁷⁵
Race: A social construct that divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance, ancestral heritage, cultural affiliation, cultural history, ethnic classification, based on the social, economic, and political context of a society at a given period of time (see Culture, Ethnicity, Racism).⁷⁹
Racism: The systematic subordination of people from marginalized racial groups based on their physical appearance, ethnic or ancestral history, or cultural affiliation (see Ethnicity, Culture, Social Identities). Racism is considered a deeply pervasive, systemic issue perpetuated by members of the privileged racial group holding dominant social power over others. Discrimination (see Discrimination), prejudice, or xenophobia may be more accurate terms for describing individual acts of oppression (see Oppression). While these individual acts likely stem from systemic racism, at the individual level the power dynamics that enable racism are not at play in the same way (see Empathy, Cultural Humility, Social Justice).⁷⁹
Radish: Targets Native/Indigenous people; “red on the outside, white on the inside”; implies assimilation to white American culture (see Culture).¹⁹
Redskin: Targets Native/Indigenous people; term came from two places, skin color and the cruel torture of skinning Native Americans for a bounty.¹⁹
Reggina/Reggin: Targets Black and African American people; “a nigger” and “nigger” spelled backwards (see Nigger).¹⁹
Retarded/Lame/Crazy/Dumb: Targets mental, emotional and physical disabilities (see Disabilities) as objects for ridicule. Used as synonyms for “worthless,” “bad,” “unintelligent,” “incapable,” etc. (see Derogatory, Oppression)⁷⁹
Rice Cracker: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX and AAPI people; Hispanic/white, Asian/white.¹⁹
Rice Nigger: Targets Arab and AAPI people; similar to nigger (see Nigger), but for Arab and AAPI people.¹⁹
Rice Picker: Targets AAPI people; refers to cultural practice of picking rice; AAPI version of “Cotton Picker” (see Cotton Picker)¹⁹
Sanchez: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; common cultural name.¹⁹
Sand Nigger: Targets Arab and Middle Eastern people; similar to nigger (see Nigger), but for Arab people.¹⁹
Savage: Targets Native/Indigenous people; commonly used in the US during the 1800s.¹⁹
Self-efficacy: A person’s belief that they can be successful when carrying out a particular task.¹⁰
Sexual Orientation: Emotional, romantic, or sexual (see Sexuality) feelings toward other people or no people (see Asexual). While sexual activity involves the choices one makes regarding behavior, one’s sexual activity does not define one’s sexual orientation (see Sexual Orientation). Sexual orientation is part of the human condition, and all people have one. Typically, it is attraction that helps determine orientation.¹ (see LGBTQIA+ Slurs and Terminology)
Sexuality: The components of a person that include their biological sex (see Biological Sex), sexual orientation (see Sexual Orientation), gender identity (see Gender Identity), sexual practices, etc.⁷⁹ (see LGBTQIA+ Slurs and Terminology)
Shine: Targets Black and African American people; derived from shoe shiner.²⁶
Sizeism: The pervasive system of discrimination (see Discrimination) and exclusion that oppresses (see Oppression) people who have bodies that society has labeled as “overweight,” as well as people of short stature. Hxstorically speaking, larger bodies have been labeled as unhealthy, undesirable, and lazy (see Stereotypes, Body Image, Internalized Oppression, Social Identities) ; this fails to address the complicated narratives around health and healthy living.⁷⁹
Smoke Signal: Targets Native/Indigenous people; mocks cultural traditions.¹⁹
Social Justice: A goal and a process in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Begins with an acknowledgement that oppression (see Oppression, Empathy) and inequity exist and must be actively dismantled on all levels (see Ally, Allyship, Cultural Humility).⁷⁹
Social Identities: Social identity groups are based on the physical, social, and mental characteristics of individuals. They are sometimes obvious and clear, sometimes not obvious and unclear, often self-claimed and frequently ascribed by others (see Stereotypes, Internalized Oppression, Microaggression).⁷⁹
Socioeconomic Class: Social group membership based on a combination of factors including income, education level, occupation, and social status in the community (see Community), such as contacts within the community, group associations, and the community’s perception of the family or individual (see Culture, Community, Stereotypes, Oppression).⁷⁹
Soggy Cracker, Spicy Cracker: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; Mexican/white; wetback (see Wetback) and cracker”.¹⁹
Spic, Spick, Spik, Spig: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people; believed to be a play on a Spanish-accented pronunciation of the English word speak.¹⁸᠈²³᠈⁷⁵᠈⁷⁶
Spigger: Targets Hispanic/Latina/Latino/LatinX people as well as mixed/multiracial people; Hispanic/Black; also “Mexican/Hispanics who act Black.”¹⁹
Spirituality: Having to do with deep feelings and convictions, including a person’s sense of peace, purpose, connection to others, and understanding of the meaning and value of life; may or may not be associated with a particular set of beliefs or practices.⁷⁹
Spook: Targets African American and Black people; from the 1940s.¹⁹
Squaw: Targets Native/Indigenous people; derived from lower East Coast Algonquian; originally meant “young womxn” (see Womxn), but now considered derogatory (see Derogatory).⁵⁷
Stereotype: A generalization applied to every person in a cultural group; a fixed conception of a group without allowing for individuality. When we believe our stereotypes, we tend to ignore characteristics that don’t conform to our stereotype, rationalize what we see to fit our stereotype, see those who do not conform as “exceptions,” and find ways to create the expected characteristics (see Culture, Community, , Social Identity, Oppression).⁷⁹
Tar Baby: Targets African American and Black children.⁶⁷
The Lawn Jockey: Jocko Graves (1764-1776) was a young African American boy whose service during the American Revolutionary War earned him the commemorative statue, the “lawn jockey.” Deemed too young to be involved in battle, Jocko Graves was ordered to tend to officers’ horses and keep a lantern burning, so the soldiers would know how to return to camp after the fighting ended. A blizzard that night delayed some of Washington’s soldiers. They found young Jocko Graves had frozen to death in the spot where he was ordered to stand watch with the lantern still burning in his clenched frozen hand. Washington was so moved by the boy’s dedication that he commissioned a statue of “The Faithful Groomsman” to stand in honor of Graves at the General’s estate.
Over time, the statue’s original form changed, and its origin story was forgotten. The statue became known as “The Lawn Jockey” and by the mid-nineteenth century was usually depicted as the racial “Sambo” character, with very dark skin and big protruding lips. It was also often used as a hitching post for horses and made out of cast iron, while others were used as ornaments for front lawns.⁸⁸
Tipi Tom: Targets Native/Indigenous people; refers to living in tee-pees and tom-tom use.¹⁹
Toad: Targets African American and Black people; prison slang.⁵⁵
Tomahonky: Targets Native/Indigenous people; generally refers to white people with Native/Indigenous heritage.¹⁹
Twinkie: (see Banana)
Ugly: Word used to put down someone for the way they look, can be connected back to white supremacist, ableist (see Ableist, Internalized Oppression), sizeist standards of beauty (see Body Image, Body Policing, Social Identities, Sizeism, Oppression).⁷⁹
Uncle Tom: Targets Black and African American people; refers to Black people perceived as behaving in a subservient manner to white authority figures.³⁴
Undocumented Immigrants: People are who are born outside of the country to which they immigrated, who do not have documentation that grants legal rights related to residency and/or citizenship.⁷⁹
Wang Chong: Targets AAPI people; represents a common Asian name. Also a British new wave band in the 80’s famous for their song “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” with the lyric “Everybody Wang Chung tonight!”¹⁹
Wagon Burner: Targets Indigenous/Native people; a reference to Native tribes attacking wagon trains during the wars in the eastern American frontier.⁵⁵
Wetback: Targets undocumented immigrants (see Undocumented Immigrant); “anyone who illegally enters the US through its southern boarder”; also refers to “Operation Wetback”, a military operation devised in 1954 to stop the onslaught of illegal aliens entering the United States, primarily from Mexico. The operation was soon abandoned in part because of outcry of Mexican-Americans who were angered by the racial profiling”.¹⁹᠈⁷⁷
Wetblack: Targets mixed/multiracial people; Mexican/Black.¹⁹
Yellow: Targets AAPI, mixed ethnic people, or anyone of mixed heritage.⁵⁷
Yigger: Targets AAPI people; yellow and nigger (see Nigger).¹⁹
Hope Fullness 