Terms and Definitions

 

  • Bias: Prejudice toward one group and its members relative to another group.
  • Community Indicator: The means by which we can measure socioeconomic conditions in the community. All community indicators should be disaggregatedby race, if possible.
  • Equality: The right of different groups of people to have a similar social position and receive the same treatment.
  • Equity Result: The condition we aim to achieve in the community.
  • Explicit Bias: Biases that people are aware of and that operate consciously. They are expressed directly.
  • Implicit Bias: Biases people are usually unaware of and that operate at the subconscious level. Implicit bias is usually expressed indirectly.
  • Individual Racism: Pre-judgment, bias, or discrimination based on race by an individual.
  • Institutional Racism: Racism: Policies, practices, and procedures that work better for white people than for people of color, often unintentionally.
  • Performance Measure: Performance measures are at the county, department, or program level. Appropriate performance measures allow monitoring of the success of implementation of actions that have a reasonable chance of influencing indicators and contributing to results.
  • Racial Equity: Race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes and outcomes for all groups are improved.
  • Racial Inequity: Race can be used to predict life outcomes, e.g., disproportionality in education (high school graduation rates), jobs (unemployment rate), criminal justice (arrest and incarceration rates), etc.
  • Racism: Social and institutional power and race (prejudice). A system of advantage and oppression based on race. Racism is a white supremacy system supported by and dependent on an “all class collaboration” - created to end cross racial alliances and labor solidarity.
  • Social Justice: Justice is the concept of fairness. Social justice is fairness as it manifests in society. It depends on four essential goals: human rights, access, participation, and equity. Social justice can’t be achieved without these four principles.
  • Structural Racism: A history and current reality of institutional racism across all institutions, combining to create a system that negatively impacts communities of color.