Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You Glossary

Segregationists

People who believe in the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means.

Assimilationists

People who support the idea that slaves should be integrated into American society by becoming educated, adopting white American culture, customs, and Christianity. Assimilationists ultimately set up boundaries to integration, which led to the rise of racism.

Antiracists

People who support the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices, and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.

Ally

Someone who supports a group other than one's own

Abolitionist

A person who sought to abolish slavery in the 19th century.

Puritan

A member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th centuries who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship.

Anglican

Relating to or denoting the Church of England or any Church in communion with it.

Racism

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

Savage

Fierce, violent, and uncontrolled; often used to describe animals.

Climate theory

An Aristotelian belief which claimed that the heat of the African continent made its citizens darker, and, in turn, inferior.

Polygenesis

A theory of human origins which posits the view that Black people are of a different human origin. This was later proved to be false, since all humans (regardless of race) share 99.9% of their genetic makeup.

White Privilege

Advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice.

Enlightenment era

The American Enlightenment was a period of intellectual ferment in the thirteen American colonies in the 18th to 19th centuries which encompassed the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America. While this time period is largely praised for its intellectual legacy, Stamped brings to light the fact that racism flourished during the Enlightenment era as a way to attempt to resolve the contradiction between liberty and slavery.

Chronicle

A written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence.

Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule. The revolt began on 22 August 1791 and ended in 1804 with the former colony's independence. The Haitian Revolution caused many white Americans to be fearful of slaves.

Intimidator

A person who frightens or overawes someone, especially in order to make them do something.

Reconstruction era

The period after the American Civil War from 1865 to 1877, during which the United States grappled with the challenges of reintegrating into the Union the states that had seceded and determining the legal status of African Americans.

The Birth of a Nation

A 1915 American silent drama film directed by D.W. Griffith. The film was widely celebrated following its release. The film portrays African Americans (many of whom are played by white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women. The film presents the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a heroic force necessary to preserve American values and a white supremacist social order. This narrative was very harmful and further promoted racist thinking.

Black Power

The Black Power movement was prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, emphasizing racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture, promote and advance what was seen by proponents of the movement as being the collective interests and values of Black Americans.

#BlackLivesMatter

A decentralized movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against Black people.