The British Sociological Association has drawn up anti-racist language guidance for BSA publications, journals and other activities. These were developed with wide consultation and we are grateful for all the help received.
We recognise that the BSA is a predominantly white organisation existing within a national culture which has evolved out of and still embodies many racist ideologies. This is reflected in the fact that there are only a very small number of black sociologists within the Association. We also recognise that the lexicon below is merely a first attempt to clarify some issues which have caused offence or difficulty for some of our members and that a great deal of further work needs to be done. The BSA is proceeding to set up an anti-racist monitoring group to take the issue further, drawing upon the experiences of black sociologists and researchers.
This anti-racist guidance needs to be seen in the context of a general commitment to anti-racism since may words can be racist or anti-racist depending upon the context in which they are used. The British Sociological Association is opposed to any form of racial prejudice or discrimination and any racist practice or racist use of language taking place within its jurisdiction. This language guidance is intended to help BSA members identify and challenge racism in sociological education and research.
Sociologists may not always be aware of any racism implied in their work or their use of language, either because they are not familiar with the current debates or because the use of the terms varies over time and according to context. The issues are not always clear cut. There is disagreement as to whether some terms are acceptable or not and different political positions are aligned with different terms. Consequently, this guidance can only aim to promote an awareness of the issues in many instances rather than to prescribe or enforce the use of particular terms. A reading list is given below for further discussion and information.
BibliographyEICHLER, Margaret: (1988) Non-Sexist Research Methods Allen and Unwin: London
FORBES, Jack D.: (1988) Black Africans and Native Americans Blackwells: Oxford
GAINE, C.: (1988) No Problem Here - a practical approach to education and 'race' in white schools Hutchinsons: London
MOORE, Robert B.: (1985) Racism in the English Language A lesson plan and study essay. Council for Interracial Books for Children, 1841 Broadway, New York, NY 10023, USA.
Afro CaribbeanIn Britain, this is a term often used by black West Indians. It is a term associated with a commitment to anti-racism. Afro/Caribbean is preferred to Afro-Caribbean.
American When referring to America it is important to be aware of the fact that there is a North America and a South America - not just the USA. Consequently when referring to the USA it is best to be explicit about this.
Asian Refers to people from the Asian sub-continent, often as ethnic minorities in Britain. However, under some circumstances there may be objections to bracketing together a wide variety of different cultural and ethnic groups often with very different positions within British society. Also, some members of particular ethnic groups may object to being referred to by their 'country of origin' when they have been living for several generations in Britain.
Black This term is often used to refer to a variety of non-white groups. The term has taken on more political connotations with the rise of black activism in the USA since the 1960s and now its usage implies solidarity against racism. The idea of 'black' has thus been reclaimed as a source of pride and identity. To accept this means that we should be sensitive to the many negative connotations relating to the word 'black' in the English language (black leg, black list etc.). However, some Asians in Britain object to the use of the word 'black' being applied to them and some would argue that it also confuses a number of ethnic groups which should be treated separately - Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians and so on. One solution to this is to refer to 'black peoples', 'black communities' etc. in the plural to imply that there is a variety of such groups. It is also important to be aware of the fact that in some contexts - such as South Africa - 'black' can also be used in a racist sense.
British Many would argue that one way to denote minority ethnics in this country would be to describe them as 'British Asians', 'Chinese British' etc. One advantage is that by referring to two ethnicities it avoids any suggestion that a person has to choose between them for their identity. However, the idea of 'British' also implies a false sense of unity. Many Scots, Welsh and Irish resist being identified as British and the territory denoted by the term contains a wide variety of cultures, languages and religions.
Civilised/Civilisation This term derives from a colonialist perception of the world. It is often associated the social Darwinist thought and is full of implicit value judgements and ignorance of Third World history. However, in some cases, such as the work of Norbert Elias, civilisation takes on a different meaning without racist overtones.
Coloured At one time this was considered an acceptable term to use in the USA. However, since the 1960s it has been regarded as offensive to many black people.
Classifications The Commission for Racial Equality have produced a list of 'ethnic classifications' for the use of employers and others collecting information for the purpose of Equal Opportunities policies and this is compatible with that used for the 1991 Census. However, they recognise that no single classification system will be relevant to all contexts. The classification is as follows:
White
Black - Caribbean
Black - African
Black - Other (please specify)
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Chinese
Other (please describe)
Ethnic Refers to cultural groups of various kinds. It is usually used to refer to black communities but could equally be applied to communities of white people - such as Polish or Germans - or to other cultural groups such as Scots or people from Yorkshire. To avoid this confusion it is best to spell out the relevant ethnic groups explicitly where this is possible. The extent to which a classification of different ethnic groups is appropriate depends upon the context. In some London boroughs for example, it may be more appropriate to distinguish a number of distinct ethnic groups whereas in other areas of Britain this may not be so appropriate. (See also the discussion under 'minorities'.)
Ethnocentric This means a tendency to perceive the world from the point of view of ones own culture. Ethnocentrism can lead to racism when applied to issues of race.
Developing Nations This is another term used to refer to Third World or Southern countries. However, it can be seen as prejudicial since there is an implicit comparison with 'developed' countries.
Half-Caste Avoid this term. A rather dated term which confuses caste with race and has racist connotations.
Host Society Not a helpful term in many cases since former in-migrants soon become part of a host society. It also implies a false sense of unity in the 'host' society and conveys a sense of in-comers as being somehow alien. It is preferable to talk of a society receiving migrants.
Immigrants Under some circumstances people could correctly be described as immigrants - if they are in-migrants from one place to another. However this is not a useful term for referring to ethnic groups which have been in Britain since the early post-war period and in the British context has racist overtones, being associated with immigration legislation.
Indian In a US. context this word is often used to refer to indigenous Americans. However, the term is associated with racism and is also confusing since it also describes people from India. Use native American instead.
Indigenous Under some circumstances this can be used to describe particular ethnic groups originating and remaining in a particular region. The United Nations uses the idea of 'indigenous groups' to obtain rights for North American Indians, Aborigines and other groups whose situation has suffered from invading colonists. However, in the British context it is not a helpful term since it would be difficult to identify the indigenous British in this sense.
Minorities Some prefer 'ethnic minorities' although others suggest that this implies that the majority are not ethnic as well and hence recommend the use of the term 'minorities'. An alternative suggestion is that of 'minority ethnics' which avoids this problem. When addressing a US. audience it is important to take into account the fact that US. sociologists use the term not in a numerical sense but in a power sense. This makes it possible to refer to a numerical majority as a minority if they have minimal power.
Mixed Race sometimes used to refer to people with more than one racial origin. However, this is also a misleading term since it implies that a 'pure race' exists.
Multi-Cultural This is thought by some to be a neutral way of describing the variety of ethnic cultures and peoples in Britain. However, others object to this term on the grounds that it assumes that they are all equal rather than that some are dominated by the racism of others.
Native Native-born is an acceptable term if used to refer to people born in a particular place. Otherwise it has strong colonialist connotations.
Negro/Negress A rather dated term which now tends to have racist overtones unless used historically. African American is the preferred term in the US nowadays.
Non-Industrial An alternative way of referring to Third World countries, but in fact there are very few non-industrial countries.
Non White This may be acceptable where one wishes to refer to, say, whites and non-whites. However, continual reference to non-whites could be perceived as racist. With frequent allusion it would therefore be better to use terms like black peoples, British Asians, etc. since some black groups would rather be identified in their own right than by reference to whites.
Overseas Some people argue that this is a neutral term. However, most would feel that this is a pejorative term since it refers to Britain's former overseas possessions. Also it is rather vague - French people are from overseas as are those from Jersey and the Isle of Man.
Pagan A rather derogatory term used to describe the beliefs and religion of non-Christian peoples. The term has racist overtones.
Primitive This has derogatory overtones and implies an ignorance of the nature of many non-industrial peoples. Use 'non-industrial' instead.
Race Originally associated with social Darwinism, eugenics and therefore highly pejorative. In a biological sense the word is unhelpful since it does not describe the variety of ethnic groups which sociologists would normally wish to identify. However, the term has been reclaimed more recently as a way of describing issues of ethnicity in social contexts and is now used in an anti-racist sense. Some have felt that it is necessary to put the word into inverted commas in order to make it clear that these are social distinctions being referred to rather than biological ones and in order to distance themselves from the original meaning of the term.
Third World This has become the term used to refer to countries outside the 'old world' (Europe) and the 'new world' (USA, Australia etc.). This usually implicitly means poor and developing nations. However, some feel that this puts together too many diverse nations and cultures and that it can be prejudicial under some circumstances. North/South may be a better alternative.
Tribe A rather Victorian term for referring to non-industrial peoples. It has derogatory and therefore racist overtones.
Visible Minority A term deriving from the USA to describe racially distinctive groups with little political power.
West Indian This term used to refer to people from the West Indies, a region which is highly culturally diverse. It has been replaced by 'Afro Caribbean' when referring to people of West Indian extraction.
