Someone who makes the commitment and effort to recognize their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and work in solidarity with oppressed groups in the struggle for justice. Allies understand that it is in their own interest to end all forms of oppression, even those from which they may benefit in concrete ways. Allies commit to reducing their own complicity or collusion in oppression of those groups and invest in strengthening their own knowledge and awareness of oppression.

There is an important distinction between ally and co-conspirator.

As white activists we are are called on to Amplify Black Voices, not to speak for others. It's an easy trap to fall into. So, it matters which Black voices we amplify. In an anti-racist group activity I remember sitting with other interested parties discussing experiences. A Black man made and interesting point. Almost immediately, a white person made the same point and suddenly it was well received and inspiring. I had heard of this happening, but I was astonished to see it happen. Source

Black women must overcome the angry black woman stereotype, which characterizes black women as bad-tempered, hostile and overly aggressive. For evidence of this stereotype, one must look no further than recent headlines regarding Serena Williams. Other examples of this stereotype being applied include Michelle Obama, Jemele Hill and Shonda Rhimes. The origin of the angry black woman stereotype is believed to stem from the 1950s radio show Amos ‘n’ Andy, which depicted black women as sassy and domineering. Source

Centering Whiteness

White centering is putting your feelings as a white person above the Black and POC causes you’re supposed to be helping. Layla F. Saad explains in Me and White Supremacy, “White centering is the centering of white people, white values, white norms and white feelings over everything and everyone else.” White centering can manifest as anything ranging from tone policing and white fragility to white exceptionalism and outright violence.

involves the change in dialect and other cultural affectations of society between Black culture and white. A Black person has to prepare to present themselves appropriate to the white culture in white dominated spaces.

Being able to straddle two (or more) worlds, shift between different cultures, is a personal and social strength. Being able to code shift is like a superpower. Anyone who says different is jealous they don't have that superpower. It is possible to be true to yourself and to the people you love, and still grow and change and learn. Doesn't make things easier but it creates opportunity and can be a life-long adventure. Some people prefer to play it safe and that's ok, too. I wish you whatever it is you most want from life.

Colorism

is a form of prejudice within a race favoring the lighter skinned people of the race. A lighter skinned Thai person is seen as more beautiful and intelligent than a darker skinned one. There are skin categories in Black culture like high yellow, red boned, brown skinned, paper bag was a test for those between dark and light.

In order for a Black musician to be "truly successful" they need to cross over. That is how white media portrays it. That means they win the white audience. The author of my source indicates that some artists don't cross over, but lure white audiences to their domain. It's a power differential.  Source

Cultural appropriation

the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society. "the white mans dreadlocks were widely criticized as another example of cultural appropriation".

Theft of cultural elements—including symbols, art, language, customs, etc.—for one’s own use, commodification, or profit, often without understanding, acknowledgement,or respect for its value in the original culture. Results from the assumption of a dominant (i.e. white) culture’s right to take other cultural elements.

Default/Normal

has to do with recognizing that the majority population becomes the normal. When you speak of someone Black you will identify the race, otherwise the assumption is the default of whiteness. This throws shade on the existence of an 'other' person. Default comes into play in media portrayals. The intersection of race gives us a predominence of white people in broadcast TV. Characters in history who are Black have tended to be stereotyped as well. Default is a challenge for minorities because they are obscured.

In politics, a dog whistle is the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. The concept is named for ultrasonic dog whistles used in shepherding, which are audible to dogs but not humans. Accusations of dog whistling are, by their nature, hard to prove and may be false.

Dog whistles use language that appears normal to the majority but communicate specific things to intended audiences. They are generally used to convey messages on issues likely to provoke controversy without attracting negative attention. One example may be the use of a phrase such as family values to signal to Christians that a candidate would support policies promoting Christian values without alienating non-Christian supporters.[1] Another may be the use of the phrase "international bankers" to signal to racists that a candidate is antisemitic without alienating non-racist supporters.[2] On parties that support abortion, the phrase reproductive rights is preferred to avoid turning off any pro-Life ally.

Today, most historians speak of “enslaved people” instead of “slaves". This language separates a person's identity from his/her circumstance. With the word “slave,” we deny the humanity of the enslaved person; with “enslaved person,” we recognize their enslaved state as imposed on them and not intrinsic to their identity as a human being.  Source of vocabulary of Freedom

Eurocentrism is a political term coined in the 1980s, referring to the notion of European exceptionalism, a worldview centered on Western civilization, as it had developed during the height of the European colonial empires since the early modern period.

The term Eurocentrism itself dates back to the late 1970s and became prevalent during the 1990s, especially in the context of decolonization and development aid and humanitarian aid offered by industrialised countries (“First World”) to developing countries (“Third World”).

The conscious and unconscious development of ideas, beliefs, actions, and behaviors that demonstrate one’s acceptance of the dominant society’s racist tropes and stereotypes about their own race. Internalized racism is the simultaneous hating of oneself and/or one’s own race and valuing of the dominant race. Internalized racism is an individual’s system of oppression in response to any and all forms of racism.

Exposing [one’s] multiple identities can help clarify the ways in which a person can simultaneously experience privilege and oppression. For example, a Black woman in America does not experience gender inequalities in exactly the same way as a white woman, nor racial oppression identical to that experienced by a Black man. Each race and gender intersection produces a qualitatively distinct life.

Per Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw: Intersectionality is simply a prism to see the interactive effects of various forms of discrimination and disempowerment. It looks at the way that racism, many times, interacts with patriarchy, heterosexism, classism, xenophobia — seeing that the overlapping vulnerabilities created by these systems actually create specific kinds of challenges. “Intersectionality 102,” then, is to say that these distinct problems create challenges for movements that are only organized around these problems as separate and individual. So when racial justice doesn’t have a critique of patriarchy and homophobia, the particular way that racism is experienced and exacerbated by heterosexism, classism etc., falls outside of our political organizing. It means that significant numbers of people in our communities aren’t being served by social justice frames because they don’t address the particular ways that they’re experiencing discrimination.

The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, or simply the Lost Cause, is an American pseudo-historical, negationist ideology that advocates the belief that the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was heroic, just, and not centered on slavery.

This relates to the way Black people are perceived in media dramatizations. The character becomes almost a wizard or leprechaun rather than a fully developed character. The idea insinuates that Black people have special powers and/or are invulnerable to pain or tragedy.

1. He or she is a person of colour, typically Black, often Native American, in a story about predominantly White characters.
2. He or she seems to have nothing better to do than help the White protagonist, who is often a stranger to the Magical Negro at first.
3. He or she disappears, dies, or sacrifices something of great value after or while helping the White protagonist.
4. He or she is uneducated, mentally handicapped, at a low position in life, or all of the above.
5. He or she is wise, patient, and spiritually in touch. Closer to the earth, one might say. He or she often literally has magical powers.

Black girl magic implies a similar idea that Black Girl Magic (#BlackGirlMagic) is a movement that was popularized by CaShawn Thompson in 2013.[1] The concept was born as a way to "celebrate the beauty, power and resilience of Black women,” as described by Julee Wilson from HuffPost,[2] and to congratulate Black women on their accomplishments.[3] Referring to a speech made by Michelle Obama at the Black Girls Rock Awards,[4] Thompson explains that Black women around the world who were persevering, despite adversity, inspired her to spread the concept of "Black Girl Magic".[1] With these women in mind, Thompson created the social media hashtag, clothing campaign and rallying cry "Black Girl Magic,” in hopes of counteracting negativity society places on Black women.[5] Black girl magic source. List source

definition to come

Meritocracy is a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than wealth or social class. Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement.

This is used to compare to the influence white people have in political and social situations. They believe we live in a meritocracy where their race influences have no power. Of course white people have great influence and meritocracy is not the framework we live in. 

Paper bag test

The phrase paper bag test has a history related to racism and colorism. The test was used to determine certain privileges by comparing a person’s skin tone to a brown paper bag. If a person’s skin tone matched or was lighter than the brown bag, they would be more likely to be accepted than a person with darker skin even in memberships to organizations.

Passing

means a Black person looks white and takes advantage of this privileges inherent in whiteness. In previous eras this would mean you would essentially abandon family members because you didn't want to be associated with them. A white appearing Black person does not have to try to pass. They may be willing to be treated inferior and relegated to less than human because of their love of their identity. They do not have to choose white or Black for life. They can take advantage at will, but there's risks involved.

Race

is a nebulous term. It's real impact in the world is much more significant than that defined by science. Beyond science race has a social impact because of the value people place on skin color. People around the world put huge value on skin color. It's not just a US thing. When I think of race I look at the typical ones listed on most US websites and employment forms - white or caucasian, Asian, Black, Native American and Pacific Islander.

That's just the beginning of it though. There are "mixed" race people. There are people who have Black blood but you can't see the African characteristics. There are Black skinned people who identify as Latinx rather than Black.

Then there are white appearing people who we "have to categorize" such as Jewish people, Muslim people, Roma, caucasian and ethnic people.

Race is simply an ill-defined word that is a tool in the white supremacy arsenal. The exist best when the term remains ill-defined. Our job is to insist on using this term clearly and accurately, so that communication is effective.

A social and political construction—with no inherent genetic or biological significance—used by social institutions to arbitrarily categorize and divide groups of individuals based on physical appearance (particularly skin color), ancestry, cultural history, and ethnic classification. The concept has been, and still is, used to justify the domination, exploitation, and violence against people who are racialized as non-White

Racism

If we don't have a clear definition of racism we are going to go nowhere. There is a lot of angst and anger surrounding this seemingly simple word. We use a definition that may be new to some of you. The definition is from the common anti-racism lexicon. We think of prejudice and embed the dimension of power. So racism is prejudice with institutional power. Under this definition, within the United States, white people have overwhelming institutional power. Therefore, Black people can be prejudiced, but not racist. If you want, you can look up the number of judges and find the breakdown by race. Look up congressman, prosecutors, defense attornies, CEOs to get an idea of the immense power white people have.

The systematic subjugation of members of targeted racial groups, who hold less socio-political power and/or are racialized as non-White, as means to uphold White supremacy. Racism differs from prejudice, hatred, or discrimination because it requires one racial group to have systematic power and superiority over other groups in society. Often, racism is supported and maintained, both implicitly and explicitly, by institutional structures and policies, cultural norms and values, and individual behaviors.

definition to come

Reverse Racism

let's first define racism with this formula: racism = racial prejudice + systemic institutional power.

to say people of color can be racist, denies the power imbalance inherent in racism. altho some black people dislike whites and act on that prejudice to insult or hurt them, that's not the same as systematically oppressing them and negatively affecting every aspect of their lives.

people of color, as a social group, do not possess the societal, institutional power to oppress white people as a group. an individual black person who is abusing a white person, while clearly wrong, is acting out a personal racial prejudice, not racism.

Settler colonialism refers to colonization in which colonizing powers create permanent or long-term settlement on land owned and/or occupied by other peoples, often by force. This contrasts with colonialism where colonizer’s focus only on extracting resources back to their countries of origin, for example. Settler Colonialism typically includes oppressive governance, dismantling of indigenous cultural forms, and enforcement of codes of superiority (such as white supremacy). Examples include white European occupations of land in what is now the United States, Spain’s settlements throughout Latin America, and the Apartheid government established by White Europeans in South Africa.

Per Dina Gillio-Whitaker, “Settler Colonialism may be said to be a structure, not an historic event, whose endgame is always the elimination of the Natives in order to acquire their land, which it does in countless seen and unseen ways. These techniques are woven throughout the US’s national discourse at all levels of society. Manifest Destiny—that is, the US’s divinely sanctioned inevitability—is like a computer program always operating unnoticeably in the background. In this program, genocide and land dispossession are continually both justified and denied.” Source of definition

White people have knowledge of their cultural dynamics and other cultures have nuances that they grew up with. When I try to interject, as a white man, in a conversation where I show I don't have expertise I am out of my swim lane. I will bog down the conversation and center my whiteness. for further reading

Token/Tokenism

is an insincere form of integration where a white person chooses to include a Black person because the perception will make the white person appear unprejudiced. This is done in hiring, inviting to parties and any other social function. The white person will likely at some point refer to the Black friend. This Black person will be pressured to assure others what a good guy he is. The white person will tend to use the phrase "I have a Black friend and he says..." to show how unprejudiced he is.

Tone-policing

is attempting to use your culture as a weapon. The assumption is that civilized people don't show their anger. "Don't talke to me when you're angry." Rather than have compassion for someone who is justifiably angry a white defensive person responds only to the emotion expressed.

White Fragility

refers to hypersensitivity on the part of white people who are not used to being contradicted and believe their emotional protection is more important than truth and justice. Tone-policing is a similar because both involve attempting to control interactions with emotions. Emotions by white people are okay. Otherwise emotions are a manipulation. You might call it hypocracy.

A range of defensive (and centering) emotions and behaviors that white people exhibit when confronted with uncomfortable truths about race. This may include outward displays of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium. Source of various definitions.

means we have all the same problems as everyone else, but others, those without white privilege, have additional problems piled on top of the common problems we all share that complicate life by an additional magnitude.

White privilege does not mean all white ppl have an easy life. It does not mean we're all aristocrats sipping martinis by the pool. White privilege is about a widespread benefit because of the color of our skin based on historical bias caused by racism. Thru the ages, since white and black races were imagined, these ideas have been embedded in the psyche of society members since birth. White privilege is about propaganda and social rules perpetrated by a white dominant society. That propaganda is so strong we've spread it world wide. The propaganda says that "black ppl are lazy" as one example. But when you think about it why would white ppl go all the way to Africa to seek laborers in order to avoid white people having to do work and expect "lazy" ppl to do it? White ppl can make a logical case that they are not stupid enough to enslave lazy ppl. But when you refer to expecting freebies (reparations) or being owed something (entitlement) it sounds a lot like the old stereotype coming out.

White ppl in this country have had the privilege over the last 400 years of collectively having a vast amount of wealth that was taken from other ppl. I'm talking about white men having all the positions of power/privilege at a vast amount of organizations in our country. If you've ever gotten a job or an interview because of someone you know you've got privilege. That’s based on the fact that over the years white people live near white people. We know that most white ppl live in proximity to other white ppl. That means that for one thing we don't even know the circumstances of black ppl. We are unlikely to network with black ppl. Being the dominant and powerful race has a massive effect on success in life. Being white doesn't mean you don't work, it just means your chances are significantly better of getting a job, retaining a job, getting a promotion, etc.

There are many historical aspects of white privilege. One example is the Syphilis Experiment which continued until 1974 where black men were exposed to Syphilis and never treated. The 1921 attack by whites of a black area of Tulsa is another example. It was called a race riot but it was a riot by white people. The black ppl had built up a whole network of wealthy businesses in the Greenwood area of Tulsa. During the attack black ppl were killed en masse. A whole network of strong businesses including banks, airports, hospital, retail and manufacturing businesses were destroyed. That's the kind of terror successful black entrepreneurs have faced again and again. This wealth if it had not been destroyed would be worth millions or billions today.

Women got the vote in 1920. Black ppl couldn't have a good chance of being allowed to vote until the 1960s when the poll taxes and literacy tests were banned by the feds. Not being able to register to vote meant that you couldn't serve on juries in most places.

The Klan was started just after the Civil War to reign terror on blacks and maintain control by whites. It had great influence for about 100 years.

Education, Justice, religion, housing, employment are all affected by white privilege. I have various studies that show the strong bias of race in various areas I've mentioned. A great amount of wealth and power was made while blacks weren't even allowed to look a white person in the eye in the south, much less allowed to learn to read and write

The unearned power and advantages that benefit people just by virtue of being White or being perceived as White

White Supremacy

is the ideology behind all we're working against. White supremacy is the idea that white people are superior and others are inferior. Since race is not clearly defined white is not clearly defined either. At one time Irish was Black, for instance. White supremacy might seem like an affliction only white people would have but the propaganda and influence has spread through the cultlike domination of white people in the United States. White people terrorized the continent and subjugated everyone in it with force and violence.

An institutionally perpetuated and ever-evolving system of exploitation and domination that consolidates and maintains power and resources among White people. This system promotes the ideology of Whiteness as the standard and the belief that White people are superior to other races.

White Slaves

During your journey with racism someone will inevitably bring up white slavery or Irish slaves. Hopefully this is history by now, but if not you need to be able to examine it with the person.

Irish "slaves" didn't require a 13th amendment to free them. Irish "slaves" didn't require a civil rights bill to allow them to really vote. Irish "slaves" didn't require a change of laws to marry other people.

Enslaved Africans and their descendants have been demonized by stereotypes for centuries so much so that when Africans come to this country now some will avoid associating with black Americans. There is not a corner of the earth that does not have a negative stereotype of our melanated brothers and sisters. The Irish? Not so much.

Every time I hear that comparison of Irish versus African slavery it is a fresh slap in the face. The ignorance in even comparing the two is indecent. It's pathological. That's why I compare the idea of racism in this country to a combination of a continuing civil war to an epidemic disease. It's an ongoing war perpetrated by the government with police as the foot soldiers. It's a disease in the sense that we have developed a blindness to the truth. It's also a mental illness because we have been brainwashed, almost to a point of a psychotic break with reality.

Woke

alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice. The Urban Dictionary, which published its original definition two years prior to the official dictionary, defines it as “being woke means being aware… knowing what’s going on in the community (related to racism and social injustice)”. In other words, it means to be awake to sensitive social issues, such as racism. I would translate that to being sensitive in a turbulent world.Source