Glossary

For more detailed explorations of these terms, including their context in teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand, along with references, please read Identify - terms and definitions to support conversations about racism. 

Race

​Race can be described as a power construct which groups people into a hierarchy of inferior to superior based primarily on skin colour and other physical attributes. There is no scientific or genetic basis to race, with many scientists now arguing that races do not exist, and therefore the term should be expunged. What does exist, however, are “racialised groups” (i.e. groups who experience racism).

Racism

​Terms such as bias, prejudice and racism are often used interchangeably, as if they hold the same meaning. When we use the term racism throughout the Unteach Racism app and resources, it is beyond intentional acts of discrimination committed by individuals. Rather, racism is a system which creates and/or sustains racial inequities through a collection of racist ideas, actions or policies.

Intrapersonal racism 

Also referred to as internalised  racism.
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​Jones (2000) describes “internalised racism‟ as “the acceptance by members of the stigmatised races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic self-worth”.

Interpersonal racism

Interpersonal racism occurs when individuals bring their racist beliefs and assumptions into their interactions with others. These assumptions and actions can be used to exclude, stigmatise, treat unfairly, ignore and disrespect someone on the basis of their ethnic background.

Institutional racism

Can also be referred to as systemic racism.
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Institutional racism is the inherent bias of structures and institutions on which our society is built. In 2021, in the report Whakatika: A Survey of Māori Experiences of Racism, institutional racism is described as legislation, policies, practices, material conditions, processes or requirements that maintain and provide avoidable and unfair differences and access to power across ethnic/racial groups.

Societal racism

Societal racism is described in Whakatika: A Survey of Māori Experiences of Racism as: “The maintenance of negative stereotypes, attitudes, values, beliefs or ideologies that perpetuate the inferiority of a particular disadvantaged ethnic or racial group (e.g. Māori), which are upheld by the privileged ethnic or racial group (e.g. Pākehā)”.

Hegemony  

​Hegemony refers to the dominance of one group over another in a diverse society, including the normalising of the culture, values and identity of the dominant group.

Implicit bias 

Implicit bias refers to a distortion in perception that people have in relation to particular groups of people, which can result in behaviours which have a discriminatory impact.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualising a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It takes into account people's overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face.

Homogeneity 

Homogeneity is the state or quality of being homogeneous -- consisting of parts that are all the same. A homogeneous perspective focuses on the similarities among individuals within a group and assumes that they all think, behave, or learn in the same way. ​

Eurocentric

Eurocentrism denotes a worldview which, implicitly or explicitly, positions European history and values as “normal” and superior to others. Euro-centric means to focus on European culture, history and methodologies to the exclusion of other world views.​

White privilege

White privilege is described in Borell (2017) a descriptor of a system that creates, sustains and perpetuates the supremacy of white people, values, norms and epistemologies. Research in Aotearoa New Zealand on the subject of white privilege firmly contends there are advantages to belonging to the dominant white or Pākehā majority.

Affirmative action

Both the Human Rights and the Bill of Rights Acts of New Zealand recognise that to overcome discrimination, positive actions may be needed to enable particular groups to achieve equal outcomes with other groups in our society. These positive actions are called ‘special measures’ or ‘affirmative action’. They are not discriminatory if they assist people in certain groups to achieve equity.

Equity vs Equality

The terms equity and equality are sometimes used interchangeably; however, they have very different meanings. Equality is the provision of equal treatment, access and opportunity regardless of need; while equity recognises different groups may require different approaches to achieve the same outcome.

Colour-blindness

Colour-blindness is the idea that ignoring or overlooking ethnic differences promotes harmony between ethnic groups. Failure or refusal to see and acknowledge difference makes it difficult to recognise the biases we have. In Aotearoa New Zealand, colour-blindness underpins a “one nation” discourse that is used to deny Māori the right to self-determination. It is a facade of racial neutrality that covertly perpetuates racism.

Tone policing 

Tone policing occurs when one person, typically of greater privilege, detracts a speaker’s thoughts or opinions by reacting to their emotional tone. It minimises the speaker’s intended messages by focusing on the tone of the delivery rather than the content of the message (Campbell 2018).