DEI Toolkit

Accessibility- easy to obtain or use; easily understood or appreciated.

Active collecting- a collection development strategy whereby the organization identifies gaps in its collection and develops relationships with community groups who may hold those types of items. Active collecting may also involve sharing authority with the served population to help identify categories of materials that the collecting organization should be stewarding. In this strategy, the collecting organization actively seeks additions that strengthen the collection.

Ally/Allyship- person who offers support and resources to someone of another group or identity; an ally makes sacrifices to support liberation.

Antiracism- the policy or practice of opposing racism; intentionally dismantling the policies, systems, practices and language that allow the marginalization of a person or group based on their race.

Beloved community- a community in which everyone is cared for, absent of poverty, hunger, and hate. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. popularized the term during his lifetime of activism and imbued it with new meaning, fueled by his faith that such a community was, in fact, possible.

Bias- to feel or show prejudice against or preference for someone or something based on a person or group’s prejudices.

BIPOC- abbreviation for Black/Indigenous/Person of Color; used to describe any non- white person.

Cisgender- people whose gender identity matches the body they were born with.

Cis-normative- the belief or suggestion that cisgender people are normal or right and all other people are not.

Colonialism- the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

Continuous improvement- the ongoing improvement of products, services or processes through incremental and breakthrough improvements.

Cultural Appropriation- theft of cultural elements for one’s own use, commodification, or profit—including symbols, art, language, customs, etc.—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.

Cultural heritage- any museum, library, archive, historical or genealogical society, and/or cultural site that addresses the shared histories and materials cultures of what is now New York State.

Decolonization- the process of freeing an institution, sphere of activity, etc. from the cultural or social effects of colonization.

De facto- resulting from economic or social factors, rather than laws or actions by the government.

Delusion of White supremacy- the irrational privileging of whiteness and policies, systems and practices of whiteness through a complex web of interconnected structures and systems designed to support those who have historically considered themselves superior and worthy, while actively denying the humanity, agency, and sanctity of non- white people all over the world; the irrational default to whiteness as normal.

Directly Impacted- the people closest to an experience or issues and its solutions.

Disability- a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses or activities; a disadvantage or handicap, especially one imposed or recognized by the law.

Diversity- a reality created by individuals and groups from a broad spectrum of demographic and philosophical differences. These differences can exist along dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, language heritage, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.

Dominant culture- a dominant culture is one that has established its own norms, values, and preferences as the standard for an entire group of people. Preferences and norms are imposed regardless of whether they contradict what is usual for other members of the group.

Equity- the state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial, and fair. The concept of equity is synonymous with fairness and justice. To be achieved and sustained, equity needs to be thought of as a structural and systemic concept, and not as idealistic. Equity is a robust system and dynamic process that reinforces and replicates equitable ideas, power, resources, strategies, conditions, habits, and outcomes. distribution of funds, resources and opportunities in order to give all community members the same opportunity to thrive; recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances.

Feedback loop- systems by which we communicate with each other; actions invite feedback and that feedback improves the next iteration of actions.

Gender- implies a non-binary association of characteristics within the broad spectrum between masculinities and femininities. In New York State, gender is identified by the individual.

Heteronormative- the suggestion or belief that only heterosexual relationships are normal or right and that men and women have naturally different roles.

Heterosexual- sexual or romantic attraction to men if you are a woman, and women if you are a man.

Immigrant- a person who comes to live temporarily or permanently in a foreign country. Imperialism- a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Implicit Bias: also known as unconscious or hidden bias, implicit biases are negative associations that people unknowingly hold. They are expressed automatically, without conscious awareness. Many studies have indicated that implicit biases affect individuals’ attitudes and actions, thus creating real-world implications, even though individuals may not even be aware that those biases exist within themselves. Notably, implicit biases have been shown to trump individuals’ stated commitments to equality and fairness, thereby producing behavior that diverges from the explicit attitudes that many people profess.

Inclusion- a sense of belonging; More than simply diversity and numerical representation, being inclusive involves authentic and empowered participation and a true sense of belonging.

Intersectionality- the term was coined by law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, who defined it as “a prism for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.” Intersectionality offers a lens through which to examine the multiple layers of inequality that affect an individual. Considering these compounding effects allows us to see and understand how experiences differ between people, even among a common group.

Iteration- assessing feedback loops and continuous improvement to get successively closer approximations to the solution of a problem.

Justice- to make a people or a thing whole from previous injustice by repairing harm.

LGBTQ+- abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer; the “+” encompasses many additional queer identities including but not limited to intersex, asexual, pansexual, etc.; used as an abbreviation to encompass the entire gender identity and sexual orientation spectrums.

Liberation- the act of setting someone free from oppression.

Microaggression: brief, commonplace, subtle, or blatant daily verbal, behavior, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.

“Native” born- people who identify as “native” to an area or geography because of citizenship status or birth; as opposed to immigrants or people who traveled to a place from their place of birth.

Native/Native American/Indigenous- people descended from the original keepers of our modern geography; may or may not be from a federally recognized tribal nation.

Norms and Agreements- the guidelines established by a group of people to guide their work, develop the context for the work, and alleviate assumptions about the participants in the group.

Passive collecting-a collection development strategy whereby the collecting organization waits for resources to come to them, normally through donation. This type of collecting can result in homogeneous collections. People who already feel comfortable approaching the organization will typically bring offer materials similar to what they already know the organization collects. This strategy may result in collections that illustrate redundant narratives.

PGM- Person of the Global Majority; a collective term that first and foremost speaks to and encourages those so-called to think of themselves as belonging to the global majority. It refers to people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialized as 'ethnic minorities'.

Race- a socially constructed system of categorizing humans largely based on observable physical features (phenotypes) such as skin color and ancestry. There is no scientific basis for or discernible distinction between racial categories. The ideology of race has become embedded in our identities, organizations, and culture and is used as a basis for discrimination and domination.

Racial Justice- the systematic fair treatment of people of all races that results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone. All people are able to achieve their full potential in life, regardless of race, ethnicity or the community in which they live.

Racial justice — or racial equity —goes beyond “anti-racism.” It’s not just about what we are against, but also what we are for. The Office of Cultural Education DEI Toolkit should move us from a reactive posture to a more powerful, proactive and even preventative approach.

Racism- the convergence of money, power, bias and influence to take action or make statements against a person or group based on their race; policies, systems, practices and language that allow the marginalization of a person or group based on their race.

Reciprocity- the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit.

Reparations- making amends for an injustice with an intentional response; reparations can include money, property, land, time, talent, resources; for collecting organizations reparations can be intentional commitment and actions to create a more robust, representative and accessible collection that highlights previously untold or under-told histories and stories.

Representation is not “equal” but equitable- it strives to give previously and currently marginalized voices the plurality of space.

Sexual orientation- the fact of someone being physically or romantically attracted to people of a particular gender or more than one gender.

Socioeconomic Status- the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation. Examinations of socioeconomic status often reveal inequities in access to resources, as well as issues related to privilege, power, and control.

Tokenism- to recruit an individual or small number of people with marginalized identities in order to give the appearance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the workplace or organization while ignoring and/or continuing the root causes of inequity.

Universal design- the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the maximum number of people possible.

White Fragility- a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable [for white people], triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display 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.