Equity Through Language

Rooted in Social Justice

Building on such theories as critical race theory and intersectionality, Sarah Lambert provided a practical framework for OER creators to integrate DEIA content through her social justice-aligned definition of OER. As you will recall from your evaluation of OER, Lambert challenged the notion that it is sufficient social justice to provide students with educational materials that are free of cost (redistributive justice). Rather, authors needed to change the content of their OER to be inclusive of the lived experiences and knowledge of diverse individuals and peoples as well as their own voices.

Let’s review Lambert’s framework before moving forward. Select the plus signs (+) below to read the definitions of redistributive, recognitive, and representational justices.^[1]

The power of language is vital to putting Lambert’s framework into action. When including the lived experiences and knowledge of historically marginalized individuals and groups of people, authors must be mindful of using inclusive language that is respectfully reflective of such topics. Additionally, when marginalized people “speak for themselves,” they must be empowered to use their own language in order to authentically tell their stories. If language is imposed, it becomes storytelling by others — an oppressive force that robs people of their agency, identity, and culture, reverting them to being a subject being studied. Lambert calls for the power dynamic to shift. We need more authors controlling the narrative and bringing greater understanding to complex topics in their own words.

How do I find the ‘Right’ Words?

As an author, writing for DEIA is about writing from a place of awareness: you’re taking a critical look at our society, engaging histories of oppression, and challenging students and educators to have real conversations about social inequalities. One way you can begin to understand the importance of word choice in your OER is to think about power and who holds it. In DEIA, we talk a lot about power dynamics when it comes to topics like systems of oppression, inequality, privilege, white supremacy, and structural racism. The terms that we use when talking about race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion are rarely benign. But the common thread that weaves these topics together is the words that have been used to justify these systems and enforce the marginalization of certain individuals and groups of people. In this context, you are building your OER.

The Wrong Words

Let’s illustrate our discussion by improving some commercial textbooks faulted for discriminatory language.

The Right Words

We hope reading the poor examples gave you confidence that you will not make the same missteps. Now let’s delve into an excellent example of deliberate word choice from an OERFSJ team before reviewing some tips to find your words.

OERFSJ Faculty Team Highlight

Hidden Voices in Intro Psych: A Companion Text Centering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism is designed to meet the needs of diverse undergraduates by supplementing textbooks used for high-enrollment introductory psychology courses. Authors Joyce Yang, Aline Hitti, Zachary Reese, and Lijing Ma, a USF team, centered their OER on DEIA and theories intended to counter the historical contexts of typical psychology textbooks, which are “rooted in colonialism and by a group of scholars holding a privileged set of social identities, perspectives, and experiences.”

Importantly, the authors clarified their terminology in the front matter of their OER, grounding their reader in a common understanding of how historically marginalized individuals and groups would be identified. Their definitions included racial and ethnic terms as well as global cultural terms.

Select the arrow to read example terminology from the OER.

Example Term: Black

This term refers to darker skinned (melanated) people descending from myriad African ethnicities, especially Western Africa (e.g., Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali). Black people in the United States are categorized together as a race because their shared histories of oppression—namely of chattel slavery and ongoing discrimination practices—constitute a culture that is both informed by a generalized “African” ancestry and also unique from it. Many scholars and activists have argued for the use of “Black” over “African American,” because the latter may imply a strong and known African heritage or a recent immigration status.

In this sample race/ethnicity term, the authors pay special attention to identify the ethnic groups who are historically categorized under the racial term, “Black,” and show important sensitivity to Black culture and identities in the United States.^[4] Additionally, the authors contextualize their use of “Black” over “African American” within activism and scholarship, making their reasoning transparent for students.

Example Term: Global Majority

This is a term used to refer to the people who are not White and come from Asian, African, Indigenous, South American, and mixed heritage backgrounds. It is a term used as an alternative to ethnic minority or people of color, as people who belong to this collective of countries represent approximately 85% of the world population. The term is meant to challenge existing power structures by decentering Whiteness and providing a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of peoples’ experiences. It also reflects a more inclusive and accurate representation of the world’s population.

The inclusion of global identities furthers the authors’ goal of decolonizing the curriculum by de-centering the United States in Hidden Voices in Intro to Psych. The specifics provide the readers with a shared understanding of the geographic and cultural origins and boundaries of such classifications. You may notice in both samples the team’s deliberate decision to capitalize all racial categories, which reflects a disciplinary principle to reduce bias.^[5]

 

Defining and consistently using inclusive terminology enables the psychology team to achieve their goals of inclusivity — they adopted the language that marginalized people use to describe themselves, ensuring their text did not revert to a narrative dominated by Whiteness, male identity, or Western culture. Such respectful language empowers people to tell their own stories and helps establish an inclusive learning environment.

Starting Points

If you are struggling to find your words, here are a few starting places.

• Stay rooted in social justice theory.
  • Many theorists provide comprehensive explanations for deliberate word choices, which can help you frame your approach throughout your OER creation.
• Disciplinary and specialized style guides are increasingly inclusive.
  • Start with your discipline’s style guide and compare it to specialized guides created by marginalized groups to write inclusive standards.
  • See our Copyediting chapter for a selection of style guides.
• Read recognitive justice works, such as writings by BIPOC scholars in your field, and make note of their preferred language.
• Defer to OER author’s preferences for self-representation.
  • You, your teammates, and contributors to your OER hold many identities which are expressed through your own writing styles, voices, and word choices.
• Seek another pair of eyes.
  • Ask a friend or compensate colleagues to review drafts of your OER.
  • OERFSJ will undergo a formal, external peer review as well as internal review for DEIA and social justice.

Let’s take a moment to research and record your word-choice reasoning to keep your team on track. Like our OERFJS team, you can place your decisions in the front matter of your OER to encourage understanding among your students as well.