Community Organizing for Social Justice Teach-Out

Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

Here are several terms which you will hear in this program, and we have defined them for your consideration.

Bigotry

Bigotry is when someone treats others with hatred because of their race, ethnicity, or other characteristics.

Community

Community is a process in which people work together for collective action at the community level.

Dialogue

When people communicate across their differences for mutual understanding. Dialogue differs from discussion and debate.

Discrimination

People are treated unequally because of prejudice against the group to which they belong.

Diversity

Differences in race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, and other social identities. Diversity has benefits, and some people oppose it.

Organizing

Organizing is when people join together, form a strong group, and generate power to accomplish their purpose.

Power

Power is the ability to influence individual, group, or community outcomes. Power between people is often unequal.

Prejudice

Thoughts or actions towards a person simply because he or she belongs to a specific group.

Privilege

A special advantage available to a person or group simply because of the identity group to which the person is born.

Segregation

Segregation limits our contact with other groups and often causes stereotypes about them.

Social Identity

Social identity is our sense of who we are based on the groups in which we belong.

Social justice

Social justice is about strengthening equality for all persons, including efforts to eliminate inequalities and challenge discrimination.

Stereotype

Stereotype is an oversimplified generalization about all members of a group of people.