Definitions: RACE AND ETHNICITY

ableism

systemic and systematic discrimination against alter-abled or “disabled” people.

adultism

systemic and systematic prejudice and discrimination against young people and children.

ageism

systemic and systematic discrimination against persons of an older age group.

antisemitism

systemic and systematic prejudice and discrimination towards Jewish people.

alloism

systemic and systematic prejudice and discrimination against people who are asexual.

classism

systemic and systematic prejudice and discrimination based on social or economic class.

cisgenderism/transphobia

systemic and systematic discrimination against transgender people.

colorism/shadeism

a form of systemic and systematic prejudice or discrimination in which people are treated differently based on the social meanings attached to favoring lighter skin color (distinct from racism, but derived from white supremacy)

colonialism

in the U.S. context, this is a form of systemic and systematic prejudice and discrimination against Indigenous people or Native Americans (like other forms of oppression, it intersects with racism and other -isms).

ethnocentrism

systemic and systematic prejudice or discrimination against people who do not speak English as a first language.

heterosexism

systemic and systematic prejudiced attitude or discriminatory practices against homosexuals and Queer-identified people.

jingoism

an extreme form of patriotism that often calls for violence toward people who were not born in the U.S.

lookism

systemic and systematic discrimination or prejudice based on a person’s physical appearance, often based on the media’s presentation and definition of beauty.

saneism

a form of systemic and systematic discrimination and oppression based on a diagnosis or the perception of someone having been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition.

nativism

the policy and attitude of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.

racism

systemic and systematic discrimination or prejudice based on race; the idea that whiteness is superior and therefore has the right to dominate another race or races.

religious imperialism

systemic and systematic prejudice or discrimination against people who practice religions other than Christianity.

sexism

systemic and systematic prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination against women on the basis of gender.

sizeism

systemic and systematic prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s size.