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Terms: Implicit Bias, Intersectionality, Indigenous, Islamaphobia
Implicit Bias
Definition:
“Implicit bias is a form of bias that occurs automatically and unintentionally, that nevertheless affects judgments, decisions, and behaviors. Research has shown implicit bias can pose a barrier to recruiting and retaining a diverse scientific workforce.” National Institutes of Health
Examples:
Affinity Bias: The tendency for individuals to gravitate toward people similar to themselves.
Race Bias: Asians are good at math.
Gender Bias: Flight attendants should be women.
LGBTQIA+ Community Bias: Lesbians can’t relate to men.
Sources:
Addressing Implicit Bias: How to Identify Your Own | Maryville Online.
Resources:
Harvard Implicit Association Test
Addressing Implicit Bias: How to Identify Your Own | Maryville Online.
Intersectionality
Phonetic Pronunciation: In-ter-sek-shuh-NAL-uh-tee
Definition:
"Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves and create obstacles that often are not understood among conventional ways of thinking."
History:
The term intersectionality was coined in 1989 by legal scholar and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor of law at Columbia University and UCLA (United States). She introduced the concept in an academic article entitled: "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex". However, the roots of intersectionality go deeper than 1989.
Current Usage:
Here are four topics where intersectionality brings clarity:
Workplace discrimination
The gender pay gap
Discrimination against people experiencing homelessness
Health and health care
Examples:
A situational example: "Workplace discrimination" - In fact, the theory of intersectionality came out of a specific workplace discrimination case.
A sentence example: "The five auto workers were told to choose between being Black or being women, while in reality, their experiences were shaped by both identities".
Perspectives:
In 1989, legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to define the exclusion faced by Black women. In 1990, academic Patricia Hill Collins introduced the theory of “the matrix of domination” in her book Black Feminist Thought. The matrix describes how social classifications like ethnicity, gender, age, and even religion are interconnected. Thanks to this matrix, people can experience oppression in a variety of ways related to their classifications. Intersectionality and the matrix of domination are closely connected.
One common misconception about intersectionality is that it defines someone’s value. Some think it means that multiple marginalized identities make a person more moral, credible, and important than those who don’t have as many. Intersectionality starts to feel like a competition where people argue about which identities are more oppressed and therefore superior. This is a grave misunderstanding of intersectionality. The theory is centered on discrimination and oppression by the state. It’s not making any claims about an individual’s or even a group’s worth, credibility, or morality. Rather, it’s a framework focused on how power and discrimination work when someone has intersecting identities. The person is not inherently better or more important; their identities simply affect their access to opportunities.
Did You Know?
The Oxford English Dictionary added the word in 2015, and Merriam-Webster published a definition two years later. The term skyrocketed in popularity, in part due to the philosophy espoused by Women's March organizers responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration.
Sources:
Intersectionality (Cambridge Dictionary)
The YouTube Channel "The urgency of intersectionality, Kimberlé Crenshaw, TED"
Intersectionality 101: Definition, Facts and Examples
Resources:
Indigenous
Definition:
Indigenous peoples refer to the original inhabitants of a specific territory, who have distinct cultural, social, and political identities rooted in their ancestral lands. From a critical decolonial perspective, this definition recognizes the Indigenous peoples' deep connection to the land, their resilience in the face of colonization, and the ongoing struggles for self-governance, cultural revitalization, and justice. It emphasizes challenging colonial structures, addressing power imbalances, and working towards reconciliation and Indigenous rights.
Indigenous comes from the Latin word indigena, which means “sprung from the land; native.” And Indigenous Peoples recognize that, rather than a single group of people, there are many separate and unique Nations (Ward, 2017).
Wherever possible, though, you should use the specific names of the Nations and communities, especially if you are acknowledging territory and identity. (Idigenization Foundations)
“Turtle Island might sound like some far away island in the sea, but it's actually what some Indigenous people call the continent of North America, while others, such as the Ojibwa, use it to refer to the whole world. “ CBC Kids
Some Nations believe that the Creator of all things flooded the Earth because the people couldn’t get along and were fighting. In one version, only the animals and Nanabush (or Nanabozho), a spirit that appears in many Ojibwa (say “oh-JIB-wah”) legends, survived. He has an Anishinaabe (say "uh-NISH-ih-NAH-bay") mother and a spirit father, so he is half spirit and half human.” CBC Kids
“Following Christopher Columbus' arrival in North America [Turtle Island] in 1492, violence and disease killed 90% of the indigenous population — nearly 55 million people — according to a study published this year. A little over a century later, that number had dropped close to 6 million. “ Insider Magazine
Examples:
“Indigenous Peoples - A collective noun for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis It can be used interchangeably with First Peoples, First Nations, and Aboriginal Peoples.” - Indigenous Corporate Training.
“Indigenous Peoples are distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced.” World Bank
Sources:
Aboriginal or Indigenous? – Pulling Together: Foundations Guide
Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. 2016
World Bank Indigenous Peoples, 2022
Turtle Island — where’s that? | Articles | CBC Kids 2017
Resources:
Newcomer Guide to Indigenous Culture
The Creation of Turtle Island - the Ojibwa version.
Islamophobia
Definition:
“Islamophobia is the most used term to describe prejudice, negative sentiments, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims. Islamophobia can be based on ideas about Islam as a religion and on ideas about Muslims as a cultural and ethnic group. Islamophobic ideas portray Islam and Muslims as an existential threat to non-Muslims.” Centre for Research on Extremism
Sources:
What is Islamophobia? - C-REX - Center for Research on Extremism 2020
Resources:
A look at Islamophobia in Canada, 3 years after the Quebec mosque shooting | Globalnews.ca