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GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN THIS REPORT
Source: www.antiracisttoolkit.org.uk
Asylum seeker: A person who has fled from his or her home country in search of safety, and applied for political asylum (the right to a place of safety) in another country.
Black: This is a term that has undergone considerable change and development since the 1950's. As several different meanings are currently in use, it should be used with caution and understanding. The North American Civil Rights Movement challenged the term's earlier negative connotations and redefined it to refer to those peoples who suffered from and struggled against white racism, and whose cause was justice and equality. 'Black' replaced the derogatory terminology applied to African-Americans such as 'negro' or 'nigger' and gained positive connotations for its users.
In Britain, including Scotland, there has been an attempt to use this socio-political meaning to unite the victims of racism (whatever the specific gradation of their skin colour, or their geographical or ethnic origins) in opposition to its perpetuation and effects. Additionally, there has also been a desire from visible minority ethnic peoples to self-define themselves, including being defined as members of groups distinguished by ethnicity, nationality or religion. In recent years the all-encompassing version of 'black' has been used less often, being replaced by such terms as 'black and Asian', 'black and ethnic minority', 'black/minority ethnic'. The term is still used in its broad ideological, inclusive sense but is increasingly used to refer to people of African and Caribbean origin.
The term 'Black' has recently been challenged by African communities in Scotland as being particularly divisive and unhelpful. This relates to the way classifications have been used within the 2001 Census. Currently classifications are confused with some ethnic groups being categorised under 'Colour' as in 'Black African/Black Caribbean' and other ethnic groups such as Asians being categorised not under colour codes but according to national origins such as 'Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani'.
Ethnic minority: The term 'ethnic minority' is mainly used to denote people who are in the minority within a defined population on the grounds of 'race', colour, culture, language or nationality. In Scotland, in practice, those referred to as 'ethnic minorities' are mainly identified as those groups of people who have come from the 'new commonwealth' to live in the country since the 1950's, that is, visible minorities. However, this excludes the many 'ethnic minorities' from England and Europe who settled in Scotland before and since the 1950's. See also the term 'Minority Ethnic'.
Ethnic monitoring: Before deciding on the categories to use, think about what is required for what particular purpose. The Census categories are 'official' and many statistics are published using them, but they can cause offence when used insensitively. If monitoring the use of interpreters, then should records be kept of languages? If monitoring the appropriateness of care offered in life crises, such as childbirth, sudden accident, ageing and death, then should records be kept of religion? If seeking to identify whether there is racism, or ethnic bias, in provision of services, then should use be made of the Census categories, or of other categories, decided in consultation with minority ethnic service users?
The Race Equality Advisory Forum (REAF) which was convened by the Scottish Executive in 2001 recommended that whatever ethnic monitoring terminology is adopted, it should satisfy the following criteria:
• be clear, coherent, and consistent
• embrace all without homogenising
• encourage individuals to identify with their own descriptors
• not be hierarchical
• not be seen to favour any group over any other
• not be divisive
• focus on ethnicity rather than 'race'
• be open to re-definition and change
• not have direct resource implications
The REAF report has avoided using the terms such as 'black' or 'white' or 'black and/or ethnic minority', 'black/minority ethnic' because REAF argues that they:
• lack clarity and thus risk misleading the public
• are open to abuse by seeming to give leverage to one group over another
• risk leading to division rather than solidarity
• reinforce racism, especially towards Africans and people of African background
Families: The term is used here to denote domestic structures of care, attachment and responsibility in the raising of children and young people by adults.
Gypsy/Traveller: This term is complex in that it is often used as a generic catch-all term to describe groups of people who have a more transient or nomadic way of life. Within this generic term, for most people there will be a preference for either the term 'Gypsy' or 'Traveller', depending on individual or family self-classifications.
There are also others who define themselves as Occupational Travellers. These are people who as well as having a more transient and nomadic way of life also have jobs which require seasonal mobility. Some Gypsy/Travellers may choose to live permanently or for periods of their lives within the settled communities. Gypsy/Travellers have a specific ethnic identity with a cultural and linguistic heritage for as far back as 1,000 years to Northern India. The focus should not be on the different preferences of names and titles within the group but on issues of exclusion or prejudice which act as barriers for Gypsy/Traveller individuals and communities.
Minority ethnic: In recent years, attempts have been made to acknowledge that ethnicity is a characteristic of all individuals and groups, majorities and minorities alike. In the past the term 'ethnic minority' tended to suggest that the minority or marginalised status of such a group arose from its 'possession' of ethnicity itself, rather than to the low value ascribed to its particular ethnicity in the wider, 'majority' cultural/ethnic environment. The use of 'minority ethnic' as an alternative term goes only some way to improving matters. It draws attention to the commonality of ethnicity and indicates that it is the non-inclusion of particular types of ethnicity which results in minority (i.e. relatively powerless) status. However, it remains a code for 'visible minorities' rather than minorities in general (e.g. Gaelic speakers or adherents to the Catholic faith).
Sometimes documents will use the term 'minority ethnic' instead of 'ethnic minority'. The switch in the use of the terms has had some impact mainly among people aware of the issues, but the use of the term is not yet widespread, particularly with the general public and is sometimes a cause of confusion. In line with other government resources and documents, this report adopts the use of the term 'minority ethnic'.
Multicultural: This term is in widespread use. Rather than referring literally to the existence of a plurality of cultures in a given situation, it tends in Britain to be reduced to a colour analysis that indicates the presence of a mixture of black and white components where the white components are seen as dominant. The term can also be used to develop meaning for sectors, for example, 'multicultural education'.
Multicultural education: This is an educational approach, which positively seeks to acknowledge diversity in culture, faith, language and ethnicity in relation to school ethos, curriculum and home-school-community partnerships. In America the term multicultural education covers all areas of equity and diversity.
Parents: This term is used as a shorthand for principal carers of children and young people.
Racism:
Personal Racism: Broadly used to refer to the ideology of superiority of a particular race over another. This notion of superiority is then applied to and embedded in structures, practices, attitudes, beliefs and processes of a social grouping which then serves to further perpetuate and transmit this ideology. Racism appears in several, often interrelated forms, e.g. personal, cultural, institutional and societal. This refers to the negative/antagonistic thoughts, feelings and actions which characterise the outlook and behaviour of racially prejudiced individuals. It may also refer to the effects of such perspectives and activity on those against whom they are directed. Personal racism can have a significant effect on reproducing inequalities particularly if the individual concerned is in a position of power. Personal racism can be open and explicit or covert and implicit.
Cultural Racism: This is when a particular culture perceives itself as superior to others. It is often when one culture is dominant that systematic cultural racism can take place. The dominant culture then imposes its patterns, assumptions and values on others, often in a manner that many do not even notice. This becomes the 'common-sense culture' taken for granted as part of everyday life. An example is in the use of language as a way in which one cultural group can impose itself on another with discriminatory outcomes. In Scotland it has often been argued that using words like 'Paki' or 'Chinky' is not discriminatory, as it is part of the Scottish vernacular. Yet 'Paki' and 'Chinky' are terms which are commonly regarded by minority ethnic groups as offensive and derogatory. However, the challenging of these terms in Scotland continues to be met with resistance by some Scottish people. This is an example of how language as a cultural expression is used to perpetuate cultural racism. Multicultural education/cultural diversity programmes are often a response to addressing cultural racism.
Institutional Racism: the common definition now used across the UK is derived from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report - the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people. It persists because of the failure of the organisation openly and adequately to recognise and address its existence and causes by policy, example and leadership.
Refugee: Since the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee has been defined as 'a person who has a well-founded fear of persecution; or a person who is a victim or potential victim of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or of a particular political opinion'. In Britain the term refugee is now being used to mean people who are no longer asylum seekers because the Home Office has granted them leave to remain.
White: The term used to describe the skin colour of the inhabitants of Europe and their emigrant populations. It is literally inaccurate but has connotations of power, sophistication and progress, for example, 'white civilisation'. The classification depends upon a racialised and hierarchical division of the world's human population. The roots of this differentiation were expressed in European imperial expansion. 'White' has a less positive connotation when linked with racism or supremacy.
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