Empires and Imperialism: Difference between revisions

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{| class="wikitable" style="width: 85%;"
{{row hover highlight}}
!'''Term'''  
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-datatable" id="table"
!'''Contextual note'''
!scope=col | '''Term'''  
!'''Time period/ Region note'''
!scope=col | '''Contextual note'''
!'''References'''
!scope=col | Time/Region
!scope=col | '''References'''
|-
|-
|'''acquired'''
|'''acquired'''
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|Derogatory  term used by white settlers in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) towards Black people.
|Derogatory  term used by white settlers in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) towards Black people.
|Zimbabwe  (formerly Rhodesia), Africa
|Zimbabwe  (formerly Rhodesia), Africa
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]
|-
|-
|'''Africana'''
|'''Africana'''
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|Dutch  term meaning “from another soil”, translates as “immigrant”. An individual’s  specific self-identity would be preferred, i.e. Moroccan-Dutch,  Surinamese-Dutch, or Dutch person of [x] background
|Dutch  term meaning “from another soil”, translates as “immigrant”. An individual’s  specific self-identity would be preferred, i.e. Moroccan-Dutch,  Surinamese-Dutch, or Dutch person of [x] background
|Netherlands
|Netherlands
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''amulet/s'''
|'''amulet/s'''
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|1700-1950,  South Asia, India, British Empire, mixed race history
|1700-1950,  South Asia, India, British Empire, mixed race history
|Brittanica  – Anglo-Indian
|Brittanica  – Anglo-Indian [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anglo-Indian]


Wikipedia  – Kutcha butcha
Wikipedia  – Kutcha butcha [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutcha_butcha]




Carissa  Chew - British colonial constructions of the  “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective
Carissa  Chew - British colonial constructions of the  “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective [https://carissachew.com/2023/06/20/half-caste-category/#hawai%CA%BBi-1866-1898]
|-
|-
|'''annamite/s'''
|'''annamite/s'''
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|A  French-origin term used by the U.S. Army as a derogatory name for Vietnamese  people.
|A  French-origin term used by the U.S. Army as a derogatory name for Vietnamese  people.
|Vietnam,  USA
|Vietnam,  USA
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]
|-
|-
|'''ape/s'''
|'''ape/s'''
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Cartoons  depicting the Japanese and Irish as monkeys were popular in the USA in the  20th century.
Cartoons  depicting the Japanese and Irish as monkeys were popular in the USA in the  20th century.
|1800-
|1800-
|Noel  Carroll – Ethnicity, Race, and Monstrosity
|Noel  Carroll – Ethnicity, Race, and Monstrosity [https://docshare.tips/49634907-engaging-the-moving-image-noel-carrolli_5ab91a7508bbc5ac4edd0819.html]
|-
|-
|'''Aryan/s'''
|'''Aryan/s'''
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|1800-,  Europe, South Asia, India, Holocaust, Germany, history of science
|1800-,  Europe, South Asia, India, Holocaust, Germany, history of science
|Wikipedia  – Aryan
|Wikipedia  – Aryan [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan]


Wikipedia  - Aryanism
Wikipedia  - Aryanism [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryanism]


Wikipedia  – Aryan race
Wikipedia  – Aryan race [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race]


|-
|-
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|1957–1958  influenza pandemic.
|1957–1958  influenza pandemic.
|
|
|Shu  Wan - Cataloging ‘Asian Flu’ is Creating  Racial Knowledge
|Shu  Wan - Cataloging ‘Asian Flu’ is Creating  Racial Knowledge [https://www.ala.org/rt/sites/ala.org.rt/files/content/SRRT/Newsletters/srrt216.pdf#page=7]
|-
|-
|'''askari/s'''
|'''askari/s'''
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|South  Asia, Africa
|South  Asia, Africa
|Wikipedia  – Askari
|Wikipedia  – Askari [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Askari#:~:text=13%20External%20links-,Etymology,person%20of%20South%20Asian%20origin]
|-
|-
|'''bamboula'''
|'''bamboula'''
|French  pejorative for people of African heritage.
|French  pejorative for people of African heritage.
|France,  Africa
|France,  Africa
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]
|-
|-
|'''barbajie'''
|'''barbajie'''
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|Pejorative  meaning “uncivilised”. The term “barbarian” has its roots in antiquity,  meaning someone with an unfamiliar language or culture.
|Pejorative  meaning “uncivilised”. The term “barbarian” has its roots in antiquity,  meaning someone with an unfamiliar language or culture.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]
|-
|-
|'''basuto'''
|'''basuto'''
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|A  term used to describe several groups of people living in Northern Africa. The  term is used by some people who self-identify as “Berber”, and is still used  by the Library of Congress, but it is increasingly falling out of favour as  more people use the preferred term Amazigh (plural: Imazighen).
|A  term used to describe several groups of people living in Northern Africa. The  term is used by some people who self-identify as “Berber”, and is still used  by the Library of Congress, but it is increasingly falling out of favour as  more people use the preferred term Amazigh (plural: Imazighen).
|North  Africa
|North  Africa
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Wikipedia - Berber
Wikipedia - Berber [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbers]


<nowiki>https://www.linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2019/09/23/respecting-identity-amazigh-versus-berber/</nowiki>
Society for Linguistic Anthropology - [https://www.linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2019/09/23/respecting-identity-amazigh-versus-berber/ "Respecting Identity"]
|-
|-
|'''béni-oui-oui'''
|'''béni-oui-oui'''
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|1830-1962,  France, Algeria
|1830-1962,  France, Algeria
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


|-
|-
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The  pluralised forms “blacks” or “the blacks” is sometimes still used in the USA  today (exemplified in LCSH), but it is less common in the UK where it is  widely perceived as dehumanising.
The  pluralised forms “blacks” or “the blacks” is sometimes still used in the USA  today (exemplified in LCSH), but it is less common in the UK where it is  widely perceived as dehumanising.
|
|
|P.  Gabrielle Foreman ''et al''. Writing about “Slavery”? This might  help
|P.  Gabrielle Foreman ''et al''. [[Writing about "Slavery"? This might help|Writing about “Slavery”? This might  help]]


PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]


Black Cultural Archives Glossary
Black Cultural Archives Glossary [https://www.calmview.eu/BCA/CalmView/glossary.aspx]


Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Archives  for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist Description Resources
Archives  for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist Description Resources [https://archivesforblacklives.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/ardr_final.pdf]


Baquet,  Dean, and Phil Corbett. ‘Uppercasing “Black.”’ ''New York Times Company'',  June 30, 2020.
Baquet,  Dean, and Phil Corbett. ‘Uppercasing “Black.”’ ''New York Times Company'',  June 30, 2020. [https://www.nytco.com/press/uppercasing-black/]
|-
|-
|'''blackmoore/s'''
|'''blackmoore/s'''
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|A  synonym for ‘white’ in the Netherlands that means “unblemished”.
|A  synonym for ‘white’ in the Netherlands that means “unblemished”.
|Dutch  Empire, Netherlands
|Dutch  Empire, Netherlands
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''blijvers'''
|'''blijvers'''
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Not  to be confused with the “Orlam Afrikaners”, a group of mixed-race individuals in South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Not  to be confused with the “Orlam Afrikaners”, a group of mixed-race individuals in South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
|South  Africa, British Empire
|South  Africa, British Empire
|Africas  a Country - Afrikaners
|Africas  a Country - Afrikaners [https://africasacountry.com/2010/04/bastards]
|-
|-
|'''Boer hater'''
|'''Boer hater'''
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|Term  meaning “ethnic hatred of Boers” that has historically been used to refer to  (mostly British) people who were prejudiced against the Boers or Afrikaners  from the 1700s onwards. The term itself is not offensive but may be useful  for locating materials exemplifying anti-Boer prejudice.
|Term  meaning “ethnic hatred of Boers” that has historically been used to refer to  (mostly British) people who were prejudiced against the Boers or Afrikaners  from the 1700s onwards. The term itself is not offensive but may be useful  for locating materials exemplifying anti-Boer prejudice.
|South  Africa, British Empire
|South  Africa, British Empire
|Wikipedia  - Boerehaat
|Wikipedia  - Boerehaat [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boerehaat]


Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]
|-
|-
|'''Brazil--History--Revolution,  1964 (LCSH)'''
|'''Brazil--History--Revolution,  1964 (LCSH)'''
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The military dictators referred to this  as a democratic revolution when it happened (and the U.S. government  initially did as well), but historians, political scientists, and others have  long agreed that this was a military coup d`etat. The only places where you  see it referred to as a revolution are in formal language created by the  military dictators. I have also used the term used by children of exiled  military dictators.
The military dictators referred to this  as a democratic revolution when it happened (and the U.S. government  initially did as well), but historians, political scientists, and others have  long agreed that this was a military coup d`etat. The only places where you  see it referred to as a revolution are in formal language created by the  military dictators. I have also used the term used by children of exiled  military dictators.
|Brazil
|Brazil
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''brute/s'''
|'''brute/s'''
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|Pejorative  Dutch term for Africans (and their descendants) who escaped from enslavement  in Suriname and the Guyanas and settled in inaccessible interior/mountain  areas.
|Pejorative  Dutch term for Africans (and their descendants) who escaped from enslavement  in Suriname and the Guyanas and settled in inaccessible interior/mountain  areas.
|Dutch  Empire, South America, Suriname, Guyana, British Guiana
|Dutch  Empire, South America, Suriname, Guyana, British Guiana
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''casta/s'''
|'''casta/s'''
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|A  Spanish and Portuguese term meaning “lineage”. The ''Sistema de castas'' (system of castes) or ''Sociedad de castas'' (society of castes) refers to the colonial  caste system of Latin America that was create in response to racial  intermixture. This racial hierarchy wasn’t strictly rigid, as some  individuals were able to move from one category to another. The casta system  was based on the historic concept of ‘''limpieza  de sangre’'' (purity of blood). ‘Casta paintings’ were a popular phenomena  in the eighteenth century.
|A  Spanish and Portuguese term meaning “lineage”. The ''Sistema de castas'' (system of castes) or ''Sociedad de castas'' (society of castes) refers to the colonial  caste system of Latin America that was create in response to racial  intermixture. This racial hierarchy wasn’t strictly rigid, as some  individuals were able to move from one category to another. The casta system  was based on the historic concept of ‘''limpieza  de sangre’'' (purity of blood). ‘Casta paintings’ were a popular phenomena  in the eighteenth century.
|Latin  America, mixed race history
|Latin  America, mixed race history
|Wikipedia  - Casta
|Wikipedia  - Casta [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casta]
|-
|-
|'''caste'''
|'''caste'''
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“Caste”  most often refers to the hereditary classes of the Hindu caste system based  on ideas of ritual “purity” and “pollution”. There are four theoretical  classifications, called ''Varna'',  based on natural social groupings called ''Jāti.'' The four  groups are Brahmins (scholars and yajna  priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and  warriors), Vaishyas (farmers, merchants  and artisans) and Shudras (workmen/service  providers).  Outside of these  categories are the “untouchables”, the lowest ranking group in Hindu society.  Today, they are known as “'''Scheduled  Tribes”''' or '''“Dalits”.''' Caste-based  oppression is a major form of discrimination in Indian society.
“Caste”  most often refers to the hereditary classes of the Hindu caste system based  on ideas of ritual “purity” and “pollution”. There are four theoretical  classifications, called ''Varna'',  based on natural social groupings called ''Jāti.'' The four  groups are Brahmins (scholars and yajna  priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and  warriors), Vaishyas (farmers, merchants  and artisans) and Shudras (workmen/service  providers).  Outside of these  categories are the “untouchables”, the lowest ranking group in Hindu society.  Today, they are known as “'''Scheduled  Tribes”''' or '''“Dalits”.''' Caste-based  oppression is a major form of discrimination in Indian society.
|India,  South Asia
|India,  South Asia
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Caucasian/s'''
|'''Caucasian/s'''
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|Europe,  history of science
|Europe,  history of science
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Celestial'''
|'''Celestial'''
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|Derogatory term for Chinese people,  deriving from “Celestial Empire”, used in Australia and elsewhere.
|Derogatory term for Chinese people,  deriving from “Celestial Empire”, used in Australia and elsewhere.
|China
|China
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


The  Racial Slur Database - Celestial
The  Racial Slur Database - Celestial [http://www.rsdb.org/slur/celestial]


|-
|-
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|“Chankoro” is a derogatory Japanese  term for a Chinese person that translates to “slaves of Qing”.  
|“Chankoro” is a derogatory Japanese  term for a Chinese person that translates to “slaves of Qing”.  
|
|
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]


Urban dictionary - Chankoro
Urban dictionary - Chankoro [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Chankoro]
|-
|-
|'''Charlie'''
|'''Charlie'''
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|Derogatory term used by American troops  in the Vietnam War as shorthand for communist guerrillas.
|Derogatory term used by American troops  in the Vietnam War as shorthand for communist guerrillas.
|USA,  Vietnam
|USA,  Vietnam
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]
|-
|-
|'''Charou'''
|'''Charou'''
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|1711-
|1711-
|<nowiki>https://reappropriate.co/2014/07/yes-the-term-chinaman-is-derogatory/</nowiki>
|Reappropriate [https://reappropriate.co/2014/07/yes-the-term-chinaman-is-derogatory/]


PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]


Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs & Chinaman
Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs & Chinaman [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]


Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


<nowiki>https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1292237.shtml</nowiki>
Global Times [https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1292237.shtml]


<nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20070206101157/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAS/is_5_30/ai_79304994</nowiki>
HuffPost [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-the-term-chinaman-chinese-americans_b_5560288]
 
<nowiki>https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-the-term-chinaman-chinese-americans_b_5560288</nowiki>


Umulkhayr  Mohamed, Senior Learning Officer, Amgueddfa Cymru.
Umulkhayr  Mohamed, Senior Learning Officer, Amgueddfa Cymru.


<nowiki>https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/overseas-chinese-long-history-0</nowiki>
Unesco [https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/overseas-chinese-long-history-0]


|-
|-
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|Derogatory term towards Chinese people  used to reference opium. It was a negative racist stereotype that Chinese  people were addicted to opium and gambling.
|Derogatory term towards Chinese people  used to reference opium. It was a negative racist stereotype that Chinese  people were addicted to opium and gambling.
|
|
|<nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20071010045849/http://www.asianweek.com/070998/news.html</nowiki>
|
|-
|-
|'''Chinese New Year (LCSH)'''
|'''Chinese New Year (LCSH)'''
|Also include Lunar New Year
|Also include Lunar New Year
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''chink/s'''
|'''chink/s'''
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|Highly offensive ethnic slur towards  people of East Asian descent. Regarded as the “c-word” for some Asian  Americans today. Its etymology is debated, with some tracing it to the  Chinese courtesy ''ching-ching'', and  others saying it derived from the name of the Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty. The term  “chinky” first appeared in print in 1878.
|Highly offensive ethnic slur towards  people of East Asian descent. Regarded as the “c-word” for some Asian  Americans today. Its etymology is debated, with some tracing it to the  Chinese courtesy ''ching-ching'', and  others saying it derived from the name of the Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty. The term  “chinky” first appeared in print in 1878.
|1878-
|1878-
|Wikipedia  - Chink
|Wikipedia  - Chink [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chink]
|-
|-
|'''circus'''
|'''circus'''
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|UK,  Zimbabwe, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, USA
|UK,  Zimbabwe, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, USA
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]
 




Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''coolie/s'''
|'''coolie/s'''
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“Coolie”  is also a racial epithet for Indo-Caribbean people especially in Guyana,  Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, and South African Indians.
“Coolie”  is also a racial epithet for Indo-Caribbean people especially in Guyana,  Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, and South African Indians.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]


Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


|-
|-
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|Term  used to dehumanise non-European people.
|Term  used to dehumanise non-European people.
|
|
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]


|-
|-
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3)  a language that has arisen from simplifying and mixing different languages
3)  a language that has arisen from simplifying and mixing different languages
|Caribbean,  mixed race history
|Caribbean,  mixed race history
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]
|-
|-
|'''curio/s'''
|'''curio/s'''
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|A  European term for objects considered “bizarre” and “unusual”, often used to  exoticise non-European items/artefacts.
|A  European term for objects considered “bizarre” and “unusual”, often used to  exoticise non-European items/artefacts.
|
|
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]
|-
|-
|'''darkie/s'''
|'''darkie/s'''
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|Derogatory  term for people of colour.
|Derogatory  term for people of colour.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''dinge'''
|'''dinge'''
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Discovery  is acceptable when accurately used to describe scientific discovery,  exploration is acceptable when referring to geographic exploration although a  disclaimer may be needed. An alternative phrase would be “the first European  to travel to”.
Discovery  is acceptable when accurately used to describe scientific discovery,  exploration is acceptable when referring to geographic exploration although a  disclaimer may be needed. An alternative phrase would be “the first European  to travel to”.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''East Indians'''
|'''East Indians'''
|Sometimes  mistakenly shortened to “Indian” or “South Asian”
|Sometimes  mistakenly shortened to “Indian” or “South Asian”
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab – Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab – Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''East Indies'''
|'''East Indies'''
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“Ethnicity”  is not to be confused with “race”. “Race” is a pseudoscientific concept that  refers to shared phenotypic characteristics such as skin colour. Ethnicity  takes into account shared social, cultural, or historical experiences and  practices of a group of people.
“Ethnicity”  is not to be confused with “race”. “Race” is a pseudoscientific concept that  refers to shared phenotypic characteristics such as skin colour. Ethnicity  takes into account shared social, cultural, or historical experiences and  practices of a group of people.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Ethnic arts (LCSH)'''
|'''Ethnic arts (LCSH)'''
|
|
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab – Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab – Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''eugenic/s'''
|'''eugenic/s'''
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|A  movement prevalent in the later half of the 19<sup>th</sup> century and first  half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. Based on the writings of Francis Galton,  eugenicists believed in the sterilisation or even euthanasia of disabled  people and others such as the mentally ill or “morally degenerate” to prevent  what they described as “racial deterioration” or “degeneracy”.
|A  movement prevalent in the later half of the 19<sup>th</sup> century and first  half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. Based on the writings of Francis Galton,  eugenicists believed in the sterilisation or even euthanasia of disabled  people and others such as the mentally ill or “morally degenerate” to prevent  what they described as “racial deterioration” or “degeneracy”.
|1850-
|1850-
|Historic  England - Disability Glossary
|Historic  England - Disability Glossary [https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/about-the-project/glossary/]
|-
|-
|'''Eurafrican'''
|'''Eurafrican'''
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Trying to escape the “half-caste” label  in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia), many mixed-race individuals  self-identified as “Eurafrican” because they felt it politically important to  stress their direct descent from Europeans.
Trying to escape the “half-caste” label  in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia), many mixed-race individuals  self-identified as “Eurafrican” because they felt it politically important to  stress their direct descent from Europeans.
|Northern  Rhodesia, Zambia
|Northern  Rhodesia, Zambia
|Carissa  Chew - British colonial constructions of the  “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective
|Carissa  Chew - British colonial constructions of the  “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective [https://carissachew.com/2023/06/20/half-caste-category/#hawai%CA%BBi-1866-1898]
|-
|-
|'''Eurasian'''
|'''Eurasian'''
Line 707: Line 707:




Carissa  Chew - British colonial constructions of the  “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective
 
Carissa  Chew - British colonial constructions of the  “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective [https://carissachew.com/2023/06/20/half-caste-category/#hawai%CA%BBi-1866-1898]
|-
|-
|'''exotic'''
|'''exotic'''
Line 727: Line 728:
“Fetishes"  and "Fetish figures" were applied to African objects by European  colonisers as a condescending interpretation of African culture. More  accurate language is available to describe the objects.
“Fetishes"  and "Fetish figures" were applied to African objects by European  colonisers as a condescending interpretation of African culture. More  accurate language is available to describe the objects.
|Africa
|Africa
|Cataloging  Lab – Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab – Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]


<nowiki>http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-31/the-function-of-a-fetish-figure/</nowiki>
V&A [http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-31/the-function-of-a-fetish-figure/]
|-
|-
|'''fuzzies'''
|'''fuzzies'''
Line 743: Line 744:
In the Second World War,  Australian soldiers also used the term “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” to describe Papua  New Guinean stretcher bearers.
In the Second World War,  Australian soldiers also used the term “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” to describe Papua  New Guinean stretcher bearers.
|North  Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Papua New Guinea
|North  Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Papua New Guinea
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]


Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


Wikipedia  – Fuzzy-Wuzzy
Wikipedia  – Fuzzy-Wuzzy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzzy-Wuzzy]


<nowiki>https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fuzzy-wuzzy.html</nowiki>
Phrase Finder [https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fuzzy-wuzzy.html]


|-
|-
Line 755: Line 756:
|Allah
|Allah
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]




<nowiki>https://youtu.be/eSNW2gQVJXc?t=1920</nowiki>
 
Challenges facing catalogers in describing and indexing Middle Eastern books and periodicals [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSNW2gQVJXc&t=1920s]
|-
|-
|'''gook/s'''
|'''gook/s'''
|A  derogatory term for East Asians, particularly aimed towards Japanese and  Koreans. Its use as an ethnic slur towards Koreans has been traced to U.S.  Marines serving in the Philippines in the early 20th century. In 1920, it was  reported that US Marines used the term to refer to Haitians. A dictionary in  1935 defined a “gook” as “Anyone who speaks Spanish, particularly Filipino”.
|A  derogatory term for East Asians, particularly aimed towards Japanese and  Koreans. Its use as an ethnic slur towards Koreans has been traced to U.S.  Marines serving in the Philippines in the early 20th century. In 1920, it was  reported that US Marines used the term to refer to Haitians. A dictionary in  1935 defined a “gook” as “Anyone who speaks Spanish, particularly Filipino”.
|USA
|USA
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]




Wikipedia - gook
Wikipedia - gook [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gook#Etymology]


|-
|-
Line 774: Line 776:
|South  African term for Afrikaners
|South  African term for Afrikaners
|South  Africa
|South  Africa
|Collins  dictionary – hairyback
|Collins  dictionary – hairyback [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hairyback]
|-
|-
|'''Hand-to-hand fighting, Oriental (LCSH)'''
|'''Hand-to-hand fighting, Oriental (LCSH)'''
|Say  Shaolin martial arts, if that is what is being referenced.
|Say  Shaolin martial arts, if that is what is being referenced.
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''headhunter/s'''
|'''headhunter/s'''
Line 793: Line 795:


|Ecuador,  Peru
|Ecuador,  Peru
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Pitt  Rivers Museum - Shrunken heads
Pitt  Rivers Museum - Shrunken heads [https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/shrunken-heads]
|-
|-
|'''hindostanee'''
|'''hindostanee'''
Line 844: Line 846:
There  is a plant named “hottentot fig”.
There  is a plant named “hottentot fig”.
|Dutch  Empire, British Empire, French Empire, 1690-, South Africa, Namibia
|Dutch  Empire, British Empire, French Empire, 1690-, South Africa, Namibia
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Wikipedia  – Hottentot (term)
Wikipedia  – Hottentot (term)
Line 853: Line 855:
|A  contemptuous term used to refer to Germans, especially German soldiers, in  WWI and WWII.
|A  contemptuous term used to refer to Germans, especially German soldiers, in  WWI and WWII.
|Germany,  WWI, WWII, 1914-
|Germany,  WWI, WWII, 1914-
|Dictionary.com – Hun
|Dictionary.com – Hun [https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hun]
|-
|-
|'''Inboorling'''
|'''Inboorling'''
|Term  meaning “native” used in the Netherlands from the 13<sup>th</sup> century  onwards that also has connotations of “primitive” and “wild”. In the early 19<sup>th</sup>  century, it was used by some to describe all Indonesians, but it was later  ascribed only to so-called “tribal” people in Dutch colonies.
|Term  meaning “native” used in the Netherlands from the 13<sup>th</sup> century  onwards that also has connotations of “primitive” and “wild”. In the early 19<sup>th</sup>  century, it was used by some to describe all Indonesians, but it was later  ascribed only to so-called “tribal” people in Dutch colonies.
|Indonesia,  Dutch empire
|Indonesia,  Dutch empire
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Indian/s'''
|'''Indian/s'''
Line 868: Line 870:


|South  Asia, USA
|South  Asia, USA
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Indisch'''
|'''Indisch'''
|Not  to be confused with “Indonesian”. The term “Indisch” has changed its meaning  over time. In the 19<sup>th</sup> century it referred to anything Indonesian.  In the 20<sup>th</sup> century it started to refer to Indo-European people  and cultures and sometimes to European people who lived in Indonesia for a  long period of time. At the end of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, the term  started to be criticised. Today, the word refers to anything coming from the  colonial period in the former Dutch East Indies.
|Not  to be confused with “Indonesian”. The term “Indisch” has changed its meaning  over time. In the 19<sup>th</sup> century it referred to anything Indonesian.  In the 20<sup>th</sup> century it started to refer to Indo-European people  and cultures and sometimes to European people who lived in Indonesia for a  long period of time. At the end of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, the term  started to be criticised. Today, the word refers to anything coming from the  colonial period in the former Dutch East Indies.
|Indonesia,  Dutch Empire
|Indonesia,  Dutch Empire
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''indigenous'''
|'''indigenous'''
Line 882: Line 884:


|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]
|-
|-
|'''Indo'''
|'''Indo'''
|Not  to be confused with “Indonesian”. An abbreviation for Indo-European. The term  emerged in the colonial period to describe people of mixed Indonesian and  European (Dutch) descent.
|Not  to be confused with “Indonesian”. An abbreviation for Indo-European. The term  emerged in the colonial period to describe people of mixed Indonesian and  European (Dutch) descent.
|Indonesia,  Dutch Empire
|Indonesia,  Dutch Empire
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''interracial sex'''
|'''interracial sex'''
Line 899: Line 901:
Stemming  from anxieties about the amalgamation of Black and white communities in the  United States of America, the term “miscegenation” was coined in 1864 to  denote what white people perceived as the undesirable phenomenon of the  “interbreeding of races”.
Stemming  from anxieties about the amalgamation of Black and white communities in the  United States of America, the term “miscegenation” was coined in 1864 to  denote what white people perceived as the undesirable phenomenon of the  “interbreeding of races”.
|
|
|P.  Gabrielle Foreman ''et al''. Writing about “Slavery”? This might  help
|P.  Gabrielle Foreman ''et al''. [[Writing about "Slavery"? This might help|Writing about “Slavery”? This might  help]]


David  G. Croly, ''et al''., ''Miscegenation; the theory of the blending  of the races, applied to the American white man and negro'' (New York: H.  Dexter, Hamilton & Co., 1864).
David  G. Croly, ''et al''., ''Miscegenation; the theory of the blending  of the races, applied to the American white man and negro'' (New York: H.  Dexter, Hamilton & Co., 1864).
Line 909: Line 911:
|A  pejorative abbreviated form of Japanese, especially offensive to Japanese  Americans.
|A  pejorative abbreviated form of Japanese, especially offensive to Japanese  Americans.
|Japan,  USA
|Japan,  USA
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


|-
|-
Line 917: Line 919:
|Incarceration  of Japanese Americans in the USA during World War II. “Internment” is  considered euphemistic. In this context, “forced removal” is also preferred  over “evacuation” and “concentration camp” is preferred to “relocation  center”.
|Incarceration  of Japanese Americans in the USA during World War II. “Internment” is  considered euphemistic. In this context, “forced removal” is also preferred  over “evacuation” and “concentration camp” is preferred to “relocation  center”.
|
|
|Densho  - Terminology
|Densho  - Terminology [https://densho.org/terminology/]
|-
|-
|'''Jappenkampen'''
|'''Jappenkampen'''
|Generally,  refers to the Japanese camps in Asia during WWII and the camps in  Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies in particular. The term is contested by  some victims of their descendants.
|Generally,  refers to the Japanese camps in Asia during WWII and the camps in  Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies in particular. The term is contested by  some victims of their descendants.
|Japan,  Dutch Empire, Netherlands
|Japan,  Dutch Empire, Netherlands
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Jim Fish'''
|'''Jim Fish'''
|Derogatory  term for Black South Africans.
|Derogatory  term for Black South Africans.
|South  Africa, British Empire
|South  Africa, British Empire
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


Urban  dictionary – Jim Fish
Urban  dictionary – Jim Fish [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Jim%20Fish]


|-
|-
Line 957: Line 959:
Kaffir  is only acceptable when referring to a group of Sri Lankan peoples with  shared ancestry from Portuguese traders (or more broadly European) and  enslaved Bantu peoples who self-identify in this way.
Kaffir  is only acceptable when referring to a group of Sri Lankan peoples with  shared ancestry from Portuguese traders (or more broadly European) and  enslaved Bantu peoples who self-identify in this way.
|South  Africa, Sri Lanka
|South  Africa, Sri Lanka
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs
|Wikipedia  – List of ethnic slurs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs]


Tropenmuseum – Words Matter
Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Historical  Dictionary of the British Empire - Kaffirs
Historical  Dictionary of the British Empire - Kaffirs [http://smu-facweb.smu.ca/~wmills/course322/Kaffirs.html]
|-
|-
|'''Kanaka/s'''
|'''Kanaka/s'''
Line 969: Line 971:
“Kānaka Maoli” or “Kānaka 'Ōiwi” are  preferred terms for Native Hawaiians, sometimes shortened to “Kānaka”,  however.
“Kānaka Maoli” or “Kānaka 'Ōiwi” are  preferred terms for Native Hawaiians, sometimes shortened to “Kānaka”,  however.
|British  Empire, Pacific Islands, Fiji, Canada, Australia, Hawaiʻi
|British  Empire, Pacific Islands, Fiji, Canada, Australia, Hawaiʻi
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


|-
|-
Line 1,004: Line 1,006:
Michael  H. Fischer, ''Counterflows to  Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain, 1600-1857''.  Permanent Black, 2004.
Michael  H. Fischer, ''Counterflows to  Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain, 1600-1857''.  Permanent Black, 2004.


Our  Migration Story - The Lascars
Our  Migration Story - The Lascars [https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-lascars-britains-colonial-era-sailors]


Maritime  History Archive - Lascars
Maritime  History Archive - Lascars [https://mha.mun.ca/mha/mlc/seafarers/lascars/]


|-
|-
Line 1,017: Line 1,019:




Hashim,  Suhail. <nowiki>http://www.ihistory.co/the-mappilas-of-kerala/</nowiki>
 
Suhail Hashim,  "The Mappilas of Kerala." [http://www.ihistory.co/the-mappilas-of-kerala/]
|-
|-
|'''maroon/s'''
|'''maroon/s'''
Line 1,047: Line 1,050:
|Used  to describe traditional or spiritual healers among some Indigenous people.  The figure of the ‘Medicine Man’ has often been represented in popular media  in sensational and eroticising terms. Such representations have denied the  complexity of the knowledge associated with healing, as well as the important  role traditional or spiritual healers played in many societies.
|Used  to describe traditional or spiritual healers among some Indigenous people.  The figure of the ‘Medicine Man’ has often been represented in popular media  in sensational and eroticising terms. Such representations have denied the  complexity of the knowledge associated with healing, as well as the important  role traditional or spiritual healers played in many societies.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''mestizo'''
|'''mestizo'''
Line 1,072: Line 1,075:
The  Portuguese term “mestiço” was originally used in Brazil to refer to the first  generation of people of mixed European and Indigenous American heritage, also  known as “mamelucos” (this term was later replaced with “caboclo”).
The  Portuguese term “mestiço” was originally used in Brazil to refer to the first  generation of people of mixed European and Indigenous American heritage, also  known as “mamelucos” (this term was later replaced with “caboclo”).
|
|
|Wikipedia  – Mestizo
|Wikipedia  – Mestizo [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizo]


Wikipedia  – Mestiço
Wikipedia  – Mestiço [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesti%C3%A7o]


Wikipedia  - Mameluco
Wikipedia  - Mameluco [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mameluco]
|-
|-
|'''Mogul Empire (LCSH)'''
|'''Mogul Empire (LCSH)'''
|Mughal  Empire
|Mughal  Empire
|India
|India
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]


<nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire</nowiki>
Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire]
|-
|-
|'''Mohammedan/s'''
|'''Mohammedan/s'''
Line 1,094: Line 1,097:
|A  term historically used to reference someone who worships of the Prophet  Muhammad. Many Muslims object to it because Islam teaches the worship of God  alone.  Use “Muslim” or “Islamic”
|A  term historically used to reference someone who worships of the Prophet  Muhammad. Many Muslims object to it because Islam teaches the worship of God  alone.  Use “Muslim” or “Islamic”
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Mongoloid/s'''
|'''Mongoloid/s'''
Line 1,101: Line 1,104:
|An  outdated and derogatory term used to describe a so-called racial type  (otherwise known as the “Mongolian race”) and a person with the genetic  condition Down syndrome. The Mongol people are an ethnic group, some of whom  live as minorities in China and Russia.
|An  outdated and derogatory term used to describe a so-called racial type  (otherwise known as the “Mongolian race”) and a person with the genetic  condition Down syndrome. The Mongol people are an ethnic group, some of whom  live as minorities in China and Russia.
|Mongolia,  disability history, history of science
|Mongolia,  disability history, history of science
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


National  Center on Disability and Journalism, Arizona State University - Disability  Language Style Guide
National  Center on Disability and Journalism, Arizona State University - Disability  Language Style Guide [https://ncdj.org/style-guide/]


Lonely  Planet – Mongol or Mongolian
Lonely  Planet – Mongol or Mongolian [https://www.lonelyplanet.com/landing/lonely-planet-community#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20Mongol%20refers%20to,common%20language%20and%20nomadic%20tradition.]


|-
|-
Line 1,115: Line 1,118:
It  has, however, been used in Europe since antiquity to describe Black people  from Africa (deriving from the Ancient Greek “black, blackened, or charred”).  The term was also used in a derogatory sense to describe Muslims in general.
It  has, however, been used in Europe since antiquity to describe Black people  from Africa (deriving from the Ancient Greek “black, blackened, or charred”).  The term was also used in a derogatory sense to describe Muslims in general.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''mulatto/s'''
|'''mulatto/s'''
Line 1,125: Line 1,128:
|Since  the 17<sup>th</sup> century, this term has referred to the first-generation  progeny of a non-white person and a white person. The term derives from the  Latin ‘mulus’ (‘mule’), the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey.  ‘Mulattos’ were deemed to represent the ‘horrors’ of miscegenation but were  also conceived to be more intelligent than Black people because of their  ‘white blood’.
|Since  the 17<sup>th</sup> century, this term has referred to the first-generation  progeny of a non-white person and a white person. The term derives from the  Latin ‘mulus’ (‘mule’), the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey.  ‘Mulattos’ were deemed to represent the ‘horrors’ of miscegenation but were  also conceived to be more intelligent than Black people because of their  ‘white blood’.
|Latin  America
|Latin  America
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]
 




Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''mumbo jumbo'''
|'''mumbo jumbo'''
|First  used in the 1700s in West Africa by travel writer Francis Moore to describe a  masked male dancer who takes part in religious ceremonies. In the West, the  term has come to mean a confusing or meaningless phrase, sometimes used to  mock aspects of non-European cultures.
|First  used in the 1700s in West Africa by travel writer Francis Moore to describe a  masked male dancer who takes part in religious ceremonies. In the West, the  term has come to mean a confusing or meaningless phrase, sometimes used to  mock aspects of non-European cultures.
|
|
|Wikipedia  – Mumbo Jumbo (phrase)
|Wikipedia  – Mumbo Jumbo (phrase) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbo_jumbo_(phrase)]
|-
|-
|'''munt/s'''
|'''munt/s'''
|Derogatory  slang term used by white people in colonial Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South  Africa, and Zambia, toward Black people, especially Black men. Derives from  muntu, the singular of Bantu.
|Derogatory  slang term used by white people in colonial Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South  Africa, and Zambia, toward Black people, especially Black men. Derives from  muntu, the singular of Bantu.
|South  Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
|South  Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english&#x5D;]
|-
|-
|'''native/s'''
|'''native/s'''
Line 1,147: Line 1,151:
The  term, however, is homogenising and reinforces colonial hierarchies whilst  also problematically implying an exclusionary racial and ethnic right to a  place by a specific group. In Europe today, the term is increasingly used in  xenophobic politics. The term is, however, used by some (e.g. Native  Americans) in their political claims for sovereignty.
The  term, however, is homogenising and reinforces colonial hierarchies whilst  also problematically implying an exclusionary racial and ethnic right to a  place by a specific group. In Europe today, the term is increasingly used in  xenophobic politics. The term is, however, used by some (e.g. Native  Americans) in their political claims for sovereignty.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]




Line 1,163: Line 1,167:
|Derogatory  term for Japanese people. From “Nippo” (the Japanese name for Japan) used in  World War II by British, American, and Australian armed forces.
|Derogatory  term for Japanese people. From “Nippo” (the Japanese name for Japan) used in  World War II by British, American, and Australian armed forces.
|USA,  Australia, UK, Japan, WWII, 1940s-
|USA,  Australia, UK, Japan, WWII, 1940s-
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


|-
|-
Line 1,169: Line 1,173:
|Oriental  derives from the Latin word for “east”. Historically, the term came to be  used in Europe to describe people or things from South Asia, East Asia, and  the so-called “Middle East”, and was even sometimes used in lieu of “Semite”.  The term is criticised for being geographically Eurocentric, and especially  for its romanticising and stereotypical image of South Asian, East Asian, and  Middle Eastern people as mysterious, “exotic” and foreign.
|Oriental  derives from the Latin word for “east”. Historically, the term came to be  used in Europe to describe people or things from South Asia, East Asia, and  the so-called “Middle East”, and was even sometimes used in lieu of “Semite”.  The term is criticised for being geographically Eurocentric, and especially  for its romanticising and stereotypical image of South Asian, East Asian, and  Middle Eastern people as mysterious, “exotic” and foreign.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]
|-
|-
|'''Oriental literature (LCSH)'''
|'''Oriental literature (LCSH)'''
|Asian  literature? (Specifically in the Library of Congress Subject Heading context)
|Asian  literature? (Specifically in the Library of Congress Subject Heading context)
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''Orientalist/s'''
|'''Orientalist/s'''
Line 1,190: Line 1,194:
|A  term used in the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the triracial  descendants of Europeans, Amerindians, and West Africans.
|A  term used in the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the triracial  descendants of Europeans, Amerindians, and West Africans.
|Portuguese  Empire, Spanish Empire, mixed race history
|Portuguese  Empire, Spanish Empire, mixed race history
|Wikipedia  - Pardo
|Wikipedia  - Pardo [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardo]
|-
|-
|'''peranakan'''
|'''peranakan'''
Line 1,212: Line 1,216:


|
|
|Wikipedia  – Edinburgh Phrenological Society
|Wikipedia  – Edinburgh Phrenological Society [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Phrenological_Society]


Brittanica  - Phrenology
Brittanica  - Phrenology [https://www.britannica.com/topic/phrenology]


Andrew  Bank – ‘Of “Native Skulls” and “Noble  Caucasians”: Phrenology in Colonial South Africa’
Andrew  Bank – ‘Of “Native Skulls” and “Noble  Caucasians”: Phrenology in Colonial South Africa’ [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2637310?seq=1]


Curious  Edinburgh - Racism
Curious  Edinburgh - Racism [http://curiousedinburgh.org/tag/racism/]
|-
|-
|'''pirate'''
|'''pirate'''
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|Refers  to a large-scale military operations carried out by the Dutch army to prevent  Indonesian Independence 1945-1949.  ‘Politionele actie’ was a euphemistic name that was misleadingly used  to mask the true nature of the war and reduced the victims of this violence  to ‘rebels’. ‘Agresi Militer Belanda I & II’ are used in Indonesia. In  Netherlands, ‘First and Second Dutch-Indonesian Wars’ has also been  suggested.
|Refers  to a large-scale military operations carried out by the Dutch army to prevent  Indonesian Independence 1945-1949.  ‘Politionele actie’ was a euphemistic name that was misleadingly used  to mask the true nature of the war and reduced the victims of this violence  to ‘rebels’. ‘Agresi Militer Belanda I & II’ are used in Indonesia. In  Netherlands, ‘First and Second Dutch-Indonesian Wars’ has also been  suggested.
|Dutch  Empire
|Dutch  Empire
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''primitive/s'''
|'''primitive/s'''
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|Implies  that non-Western societies do not belong to modernity. In colonial thought,  non-Western cultures were imagined as part of the distant past. In the 19th  century, ideas about non-white people being less biologically “evolved” came  to the fore. In the mid-20th century, this hierarchy was re-imagined through  the neo-colonial discourse of “underdevelopment”.
|Implies  that non-Western societies do not belong to modernity. In colonial thought,  non-Western cultures were imagined as part of the distant past. In the 19th  century, ideas about non-white people being less biologically “evolved” came  to the fore. In the mid-20th century, this hierarchy was re-imagined through  the neo-colonial discourse of “underdevelopment”.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Primitive art (LCSH)'''
|'''Primitive art (LCSH)'''
|
|
|
|
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH
|Cataloging  Lab - Problem LCSH [https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/]
|-
|-
|'''pygmy/s'''
|'''pygmy/s'''
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Some  indigenous peoples, for example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have  reclaimed the term as neutral and therefore nonproblematic. Only use pygmy if  the people self-identify in this way. Specific  ethnic/linguistic/national/religious identity is preferred.
Some  indigenous peoples, for example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have  reclaimed the term as neutral and therefore nonproblematic. Only use pygmy if  the people self-identify in this way. Specific  ethnic/linguistic/national/religious identity is preferred.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''race/s'''
|'''race/s'''
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Today,  we do not speak of ‘race’ as a fact, but recognise different ethnicities,  which are social, cultural, linguistic, and religious.
Today,  we do not speak of ‘race’ as a fact, but recognise different ethnicities,  which are social, cultural, linguistic, and religious.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


University  of Cambridge – Racial Slurs and Racially Offensive  Language
University  of Cambridge – Racial Slurs and Racially Offensive  Language [https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/equality/?page_id=130]


Michael  Omi and Howard Winant, ''Racial Formation  in the United States'', third edition (New York and London: Routledge,  2015), 13.
Michael  Omi and Howard Winant, ''Racial Formation  in the United States'', third edition (New York and London: Routledge,  2015), 13.
Line 1,339: Line 1,343:
In  her children's book the Little Black Sambo, the term is used by Helen  Bannerman to describe an Indian (South Asian) boy. Yet, the book gained  popularity in the USA where subsequent editions were illustrated with racist  “picaninny” caricatures of an African American child, thus highlighting the  term's multiple racialised meanings.
In  her children's book the Little Black Sambo, the term is used by Helen  Bannerman to describe an Indian (South Asian) boy. Yet, the book gained  popularity in the USA where subsequent editions were illustrated with racist  “picaninny” caricatures of an African American child, thus highlighting the  term's multiple racialised meanings.
|Latin  America, USA, 1700s-
|Latin  America, USA, 1700s-
|Shirley  Ann Tate – Decolonising Sambo
|Shirley  Ann Tate – Decolonising Sambo [https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Decolonising_Sambo/1NC-DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0]
|-
|-
|'''savage/s'''
|'''savage/s'''
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|Dehumanising terms for non-Europeans
|Dehumanising terms for non-Europeans
|
|
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk
|PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [https://digital.history.pcusa.org/sites/default/files/Terminology_crosswalk_public.pdf]


|-
|-
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|Often found in the descriptions of  paintings and photographs. These interrelated terms describe a person  employed in another’s household to do diverse domestic duties such as cooking  and cleaning, or to be someone’s attendant. The multiple and complex relations  that servants may have with their masters makes any too easy judgement of the  role of the servant or conditions under which they lived.
|Often found in the descriptions of  paintings and photographs. These interrelated terms describe a person  employed in another’s household to do diverse domestic duties such as cooking  and cleaning, or to be someone’s attendant. The multiple and complex relations  that servants may have with their masters makes any too easy judgement of the  role of the servant or conditions under which they lived.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''sidi/s'''
|'''sidi/s'''
Line 1,386: Line 1,390:
|Derogatory term for Black people. First  recorded in 1928. Derives from the playing cards suit.
|Derogatory term for Black people. First  recorded in 1928. Derives from the playing cards suit.
|
|
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
|Owl  apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [https://www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=8308199&lang=en]


|-
|-
Line 1,413: Line 1,417:
The discourse of “development” was used  to justify neo-colonial ventures after WWII, from the 1960s.
The discourse of “development” was used  to justify neo-colonial ventures after WWII, from the 1960s.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''traditional'''
|'''traditional'''
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|The term “traditional” can take on a  negative connotation when used in opposition to other terms such as  “modernity” and “progress”, especially when used to describe non-European  populations. In some cases, it can be replaced by “historic”.
|The term “traditional” can take on a  negative connotation when used in opposition to other terms such as  “modernity” and “progress”, especially when used to describe non-European  populations. In some cases, it can be replaced by “historic”.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''tribe/s'''
|'''tribe/s'''
Line 1,436: Line 1,440:


|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]


P.  Gabrielle Foreman ''et al''. Writing about “Slavery”? This might help
P.  Gabrielle Foreman ''et al''. [[Writing about "Slavery"? This might help|Writing about “Slavery”? This might help]]


|-
|-
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|The West is an ideological, historical,  economic and geographical concept, the meaning of which has shifted over  time. The term represents both a mental and physical division of the world  that categorises and contrasts people, cultures, religions and regions,  placing them in a hierarchy.
|The West is an ideological, historical,  economic and geographical concept, the meaning of which has shifted over  time. The term represents both a mental and physical division of the world  that categorises and contrasts people, cultures, religions and regions,  placing them in a hierarchy.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''West Indian/s'''
|'''West Indian/s'''
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Avoid capitalisation. The  capitslisation of “White” is associated with white supremacist movements.
Avoid capitalisation. The  capitslisation of “White” is associated with white supremacist movements.
|
|
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter
|Tropenmuseum  – Words Matter [https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english]
|-
|-
|'''Zwarte Piet'''
|'''Zwarte Piet'''
|Dutch  “Black Pete” blackface Christmas character
|Dutch  “Black Pete” blackface Christmas character
|
|
|Becky  Little – National Geographic
|Becky  Little – National Geographic [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/black-pete-christmas-zwarte-piet-dutch]
|}
|}

Latest revision as of 10:15, 23 November 2023

Term Contextual note Time/Region References
acquired

acquisition

attain

attained

discovered

found

obtained

possessed

gifted

given

Euphemistic terms often used to distort the fact that an item/artefact was looted or stolen, or taken through other coercive means.
Af/s Derogatory term used by white settlers in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) towards Black people. Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), Africa Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [1]
Africana Term still used by some institutions in the USA and Canada today to refer to materials or collectible objects (books, documents, artefacts) related to the African continent. May be considered outdated. Africa, USA
allochtoon/s

alochtoon/s

Dutch term meaning “from another soil”, translates as “immigrant”. An individual’s specific self-identity would be preferred, i.e. Moroccan-Dutch, Surinamese-Dutch, or Dutch person of [x] background Netherlands Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [2]
amulet/s

charm/s

trinket/s

magic

voodoo

hoodoo

talisman

mojo

juju

Terms that are often incorrectly used to exoticise items/artefacts from non-European cultures. world
Anglo-Indian/s

Anglo Indian/s

Angloindian/s

From the 18th to the early 20th century, the term “Anglo-Indian” was used to refer to British people working in India. In 1911 the term first appeared in the Indian Census to denote people of mixed South Asian and European heritage.

It is important to distinguish between these two uses for the sake of clarity: be clear when you are describing i) white British personnel in India and ii) a person of mixed (maternal) South Asian and (paternal) European heritage.


In the Government of India Act of 1935, an Anglo-Indian was formally identified as “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is a native of India.” This definition therefore excludes people with Indian fathers and white mothers, who existed in small numbers but were denied recognition.


The Anglo-Indian community traces their origins back to the earliest contact between Europe and India in the late 1400s. Also see “kutcha butcha” (in South Asia)

1700-1950, South Asia, India, British Empire, mixed race history Brittanica – Anglo-Indian [3]

Wikipedia – Kutcha butcha [4]


Carissa Chew - British colonial constructions of the “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective [5]

annamite/s

mite/s

A French-origin term used by the U.S. Army as a derogatory name for Vietnamese people. Vietnam, USA Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [6]
ape/s

monkey/s

baboon/s

gorilla/s

chimpanzee/s

chimp/s

orangutan/s

simian/s

primate/s

missing link/s

Racist comparisons of Black and Asian people to simians are rooted in 19th century evolutionary pseudoscientific theory. These racist ideas purported the idea that African and Asian people were sub-human or “less evolved”, or even the belief that they were the “missing link” between humans and apes.

Cartoons depicting the Japanese and Irish as monkeys were popular in the USA in the 20th century.

1800- Noel Carroll – Ethnicity, Race, and Monstrosity [7]
Aryan/s

Aryanism

The “Aryan race” is a historical racial concept that emerged in the late 19th century to describe people of Indo-European heritage. It was understood as a ‘“subrace” of the “Caucasian race”. The ideology of “Aryanism” reached its peak of influence in Nazi Germany. It is a pseudoscientific concept that has no reality.


The term “Aryan”, however, was originally used as a self-designation by Indo-Iranian people who are believed to have invaded northern India in the 2nd millennium BC (there is some debate around this). In this conception, it was a linguistic, cultural, and linguistic identity, not a “racial”’ one (as it came to be conceived in 20th century Nazi Germany). The term “Indo-Aryan” is therefore still commonly used to describe the Indic half of the Indo-Iranian languages.

1800-, Europe, South Asia, India, Holocaust, Germany, history of science Wikipedia – Aryan [8]

Wikipedia - Aryanism [9]

Wikipedia – Aryan race [10]

Asian flu (LCSH) 1957–1958 influenza pandemic. Shu Wan - Cataloging ‘Asian Flu’ is Creating Racial Knowledge [11]
askari/s Derived from “Lascar”. “Askari is a loan word from the Persian عسكري ('ʿaskarī'), meaning "soldier". The Persian word is a derivation from the Middle Persian word lashkar, meaning "army". The word "lashkar" also is the root of the word Lascar for a South Asian soldier or a person of South Asian origin.”

It has been suggested that “soldier” might be more appropriate.

South Asia, Africa Wikipedia – Askari [12]
bamboula French pejorative for people of African heritage. France, Africa Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [13]
barbajie The Dutch term “barbajie”, related to the English word ”barbarian”,  was used in cartography and travel accounts about North Africa. Netherlands, North Africa, Dutch Empire
barbarian/s Pejorative meaning “uncivilised”. The term “barbarian” has its roots in antiquity, meaning someone with an unfamiliar language or culture. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [14]

Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [15]

basuto An outdated colonial term for the Sotho people – otherwise known as Basotho – who are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. southern Africa
berber/s A term used to describe several groups of people living in Northern Africa. The term is used by some people who self-identify as “Berber”, and is still used by the Library of Congress, but it is increasingly falling out of favour as more people use the preferred term Amazigh (plural: Imazighen). North Africa Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [16]

Wikipedia - Berber [17]

Society for Linguistic Anthropology - "Respecting Identity"

béni-oui-oui French pejorative for Algerian Muslims used during the French colonisation of Algeria. 1830-1962, France, Algeria Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [18]
bi-racial

biracial

half-caste/s

halfcaste

half caste

half-breed/s

half breed/s

half-blood/s

half blood/s

hybrid/s

hybridity

cross-breed/s

cross breed

mutt/s

mongrol/s

mongrel/s

multi-racial

multiracial

mixed-race

mixed race

mixed

tri-racial

triracial

inter-racial

interracial

quadroon

octoroon

mullato/s/es

mestizo

Mestico

Mustees

Mestiz

creole

mixed heritage

chabin/chabine

Di colore (Early Rome)

hāfu (“half”, Japan)

Daburu (“double”, Japan)

hapa (“half”, Hawaiʻi)

Nusu nusu (“half”, Kiswahili, East Africa)

chotara (“half caste”, Kiswahili, East Africa)

Terms for mixed race people, many of which are perceived as derogatory through implication that these people are less than “whole”.


In the UK, the terms “mixed race” and “multiracial” tend to be used interchangeably, but are criticised for being homogenising. Always honour a person’s self-identity and be specific, when appropriate i.e Person of [x] and [x] heritage. The order in which an individual lists their ethnic identities may be important to them.


In contexts such as Australia and Hawai’i where blood quantum policies have been enforced it is especially important not to quantify the degree to which a person is Aboriginal/Native i.e. do not use measures like “half” or “quarter” to describe someone’s ethnic heritage.

Mixed-race history
black/s

the blacks

The term “black” has multiple meanings in different contexts.  Most commonly, it is used to refer to people of African descent, in which case it should usually be capitalised. In European sources, the term “black” has been used to describe many different non-African people of colour. In South Asia, it is sometimes used to describe South Asian people with darker skin. In Australia, it has been used to refer to Aboriginal peoples. In Hawaiʻi it has been used to refer to native Hawaiians.


The pluralised forms “blacks” or “the blacks” is sometimes still used in the USA today (exemplified in LCSH), but it is less common in the UK where it is widely perceived as dehumanising.

P. Gabrielle Foreman et al. Writing about “Slavery”? This might help

PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [19]

Black Cultural Archives Glossary [20]

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [21]

Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist Description Resources [22]

Baquet, Dean, and Phil Corbett. ‘Uppercasing “Black.”’ New York Times Company, June 30, 2020. [23]

blackmoore/s

blackamoor/s

17th century, England
blank/s A synonym for ‘white’ in the Netherlands that means “unblemished”. Dutch Empire, Netherlands Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [24]
blijvers

burgers

Terms used to describe mixed-race people of European (Dutch, Portuguese, English) heritage in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, Ho, Engseng.“Inter-Asian Concepts for Mobile Societies,” The Journal of Asian Studies 76 (2017): 907-928, p.916.
Boer/s

Boere (Afrikaans)

“Boers” refers to the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the first Dutch settlers in South Africa. “Afrikaners” has been the preferred term since the Second Boer War.


“Boer” literally means “farmer” in Dutch and isn’t itself explicitly offensive, but anti-Boer hatred was expressed by British people from the 1700s onwards.


Not to be confused with the “Orlam Afrikaners”, a group of mixed-race individuals in South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.

South Africa, British Empire Africas a Country - Afrikaners [25]
Boer hater

Boer-hater

Boerhater

Boerehaat (Afrikaans)

Term meaning “ethnic hatred of Boers” that has historically been used to refer to (mostly British) people who were prejudiced against the Boers or Afrikaners from the 1700s onwards. The term itself is not offensive but may be useful for locating materials exemplifying anti-Boer prejudice. South Africa, British Empire Wikipedia - Boerehaat [26]

Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [27]

Brazil--History--Revolution, 1964 (LCSH) Correct subject heading: Brazil--History--Coup d'état, 1964.


The military dictators referred to this as a democratic revolution when it happened (and the U.S. government initially did as well), but historians, political scientists, and others have long agreed that this was a military coup d`etat. The only places where you see it referred to as a revolution are in formal language created by the military dictators. I have also used the term used by children of exiled military dictators.

Brazil Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [28]
brute/s

brutish

Dehumanising term used by Europeans to describe various non-white populations world
bush Negro

bush-negro

bosch neger

bushman/men

bushwoman/women

Pejorative Dutch term for Africans (and their descendants) who escaped from enslavement in Suriname and the Guyanas and settled in inaccessible interior/mountain areas. Dutch Empire, South America, Suriname, Guyana, British Guiana Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [29]
casta/s

las castas

kasta/s

limpieza de sangre

purity of blood

A Spanish and Portuguese term meaning “lineage”. The Sistema de castas (system of castes) or Sociedad de castas (society of castes) refers to the colonial caste system of Latin America that was create in response to racial intermixture. This racial hierarchy wasn’t strictly rigid, as some individuals were able to move from one category to another. The casta system was based on the historic concept of ‘limpieza de sangre’ (purity of blood). ‘Casta paintings’ were a popular phenomena in the eighteenth century. Latin America, mixed race history Wikipedia - Casta [30]
caste

untouchables

scheduled castes

dalit

harijan

The English word “caste” was developed in the Early Modern period from the Spanish and Portuguese term “casta”, meaning “clan or lineage”.

“Caste” most often refers to the hereditary classes of the Hindu caste system based on ideas of ritual “purity” and “pollution”. There are four theoretical classifications, called Varna, based on natural social groupings called Jāti. The four groups are Brahmins (scholars and yajna priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas (farmers, merchants and artisans) and Shudras (workmen/service providers).  Outside of these categories are the “untouchables”, the lowest ranking group in Hindu society. Today, they are known as “Scheduled Tribes” or “Dalits”. Caste-based oppression is a major form of discrimination in Indian society.

India, South Asia Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [31]
Caucasian/s

Caucasian race

In the 19th century, the term ‘Caucasian’ was used as a racial designation for white-skinned people of European origin.

Today, the term Caucasian is only used to refer to a person from the geographical Caucasus region. The term ‘“Caucasian” or “Caucasian race” should not be used as a synonym for “white”.

Europe, history of science Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [32]
Celestial

Celestial Empire

Derogatory term for Chinese people, deriving from “Celestial Empire”, used in Australia and elsewhere. China Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [33]

The Racial Slur Database - Celestial [34]

Chankoro (Japanese)

Shinajin

“Chankoro” is a derogatory Japanese term for a Chinese person that translates to “slaves of Qing”. Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [35]

Urban dictionary - Chankoro [36]

Charlie

Victor Charlie

Viet Cong

VC

Derogatory term used by American troops in the Vietnam War as shorthand for communist guerrillas. USA, Vietnam Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [37]
Charou A derogatory Afrikaans slang for Indians that now is used as an affectionate and culturally intimate term. South Africa Hansen, Thomas Blom. “In Search of the Diasporic Self: Bollywood in South Africa,” in Raminder Kaur and Ajay J Sinha, editors, Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through A Transnational Lens, 2005.
Chinaman

Chinamen

John Chinaman

Archaic term for Chinese people, widely considered derogatory today although some Asian Americans self-identify with the term. In the words of Kimberly Yam, “the term has its roots in the 19th century and was largely used to dehumanise Chinese immigrants”. The term appears in 19th century British texts but most notably, it was used in the gold-rush and railway construction eras in western North America (1848-1955) and Australia, in which Chinese labourers were poorly paid and subjected to dangerous working conditions. The idiom “A Chinaman’s chance in hell” refers to how Chinese American labourers were given the most dangerous jobs in the Central Pacific Railroad. In the USA, the term “John Chinaman” was also a generic name used to stereotype Asian Americans at the start of the 20th century.

The term "Chinaman" emerged during the 19th century when there was a significant influx of Chinese immigrants to Western countries, particularly the United States.

The term "Chinaman" was commonly used during that time as a racial slur and derogatory term to refer to people of Chinese descent. It was part of a broader set of racial stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes prevalent in Western societies towards Chinese immigrants.

As a result of two Opium Wars, where the British colonial powers were strategically smuggling opium from their South Asian colonies into Chinese ports against the wishes of the Chinese government in the mid-nineteenth century, Britain and France forced the Qing government to authorise a massive exodus of Chinese labourers to western countries and their colonies to replace enslaved Africans. This was the beginning of the dispersion of the Chinese across the world – from Southeast Asia to America, Africa, Europe, and Australia. These Chinese immigrants were paid poorly and were made to work in risky and unsafe conditions, whilst they were subjected to other racial abuses. The idiom “A Chinaman’s chance in hell” refers to how Chinese American labourers were given the most dangerous jobs in the Central Pacific Railroad. It was in this context that the term ‘Chinaman’ was used in a derogatory way to dehumanise Chinese people based on their ethnicity.

1711- Reappropriate [38]

PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [39]

Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs & Chinaman [40]

Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [41]

Global Times [42]

HuffPost [43]

Umulkhayr Mohamed, Senior Learning Officer, Amgueddfa Cymru.

Unesco [44]

Chinaman’s nightcap Derogatory term towards Chinese people used to reference opium. It was a negative racist stereotype that Chinese people were addicted to opium and gambling.
Chinese New Year (LCSH) Also include Lunar New Year Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [45]
chink/s

chinky

chinki (South Asia)

chonky

ching chong

Highly offensive ethnic slur towards people of East Asian descent. Regarded as the “c-word” for some Asian Americans today. Its etymology is debated, with some tracing it to the Chinese courtesy ching-ching, and others saying it derived from the name of the Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty. The term “chinky” first appeared in print in 1878. 1878- Wikipedia - Chink [46]
circus
colour

color

complexion/s

skin colour/s

dark

dark skin

dark skinned

dark-skinned

black skin

black skinned

black-skinned

skin

features

racial features

These terms are not necessarily discriminatory, but might be indicative of racially harmful content so are worth including in a key word term audit of collections.
Coloured people

Coloured/s

Colored/s

Cape Coloureds

“Coloureds” historically referred to mixed race people of Black and white heritage in South Africa and Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia). Today, the term “Coloureds” is officially used by the South African government to describe anyone with mixed heritage, including those with South Asian and East Asian heritage. Mixed-race children in Southern Rhodesia were formally known as “Cape Coloureds” until the 1930s and “Coloureds” thereafter.


The term “Colored” was also historically used in the USA for African American people. It is now deemed discriminatory although continues to be used in some official titles such as The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The term “coloured” or “coloured people” is deemed derogatory in the UK today. In this context, the preferred term is “people of colour”.


UK, Zimbabwe, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, USA PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [47]


Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [48]

coolie/s

kuli/s

Derived from the Hindi word quli meaning “day worker” or Mandarin word ku li, a controversial term used to describe untrained contract/indentured labourers from Asia who in the 1850s worked in the Dutch East Indies and Suriname as well as contract labourers, especially from India, working in British colonised regions of the Caribbean and East and South Africa. The term is still used as a term of abuse towards people of African descent.

“Coolie” is also a racial epithet for Indo-Caribbean people especially in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, and South African Indians.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [49]

Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [50]

Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [51]

costume/s

garb

The term “costume” is sometimes used discriminately to describe non-Western clothing, which can be Othering and exoticising.
creature/s Term used to dehumanise non-European people. PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [52]
Creole/s

Créole (French)

Crioulo (Portuguese)

“Creole” has multiple meanings, being used to describe:

1)    people (i.e. Europeans)  who were born into diasporic communities in the colonies

2)    people of mixed heritage born in the colonies as a result of colonial migration patterns

3) a language that has arisen from simplifying and mixing different languages

Caribbean, mixed race history PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [53]
curio/s

curiosity/ies

knickknack/s

Knick knack/s

knick-knack/s

A European term for objects considered “bizarre” and “unusual”, often used to exoticise non-European items/artefacts. PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [54]
darkie/s

darky

darkey

Derogatory term for people of colour. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [55]
dinge Derogatory term meaning “black”
discover/y/ed

explorer/s/ed

Exploration

Discovery and exploration (LSCH)

“Discovery” is not a neutral term when used to describe the European ‘discovery’ of places that were previously inhabited by non-European people. Its usage implies that these places did not exist, or were not significant, until known by Europeans.

Also not appropriate when referring to scientific “discoveries” that were already known to non-European people. Incorrect usage perpetuates Eurocentrism.

The Cambridge Dictionary still defines “explorer” as “someone who travels to a place where no one has ever been”, which shows how inappropriate the term is.

Discovery is acceptable when accurately used to describe scientific discovery, exploration is acceptable when referring to geographic exploration although a disclaimer may be needed. An alternative phrase would be “the first European to travel to”.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [56]

Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [57]

East Indians Sometimes mistakenly shortened to “Indian” or “South Asian” Cataloging Lab – Problem LCSH [58]
East Indies
ethnic

ethnicity/ies

Whilst it may seem a neutral category, it is often used to describe someone or something different from the norm or foreign i.e. “ethnic music”, “ethnic food”. Nevertheless, some people self-identify in this way.

“Ethnicity” is not to be confused with “race”. “Race” is a pseudoscientific concept that refers to shared phenotypic characteristics such as skin colour. Ethnicity takes into account shared social, cultural, or historical experiences and practices of a group of people.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [59]
Ethnic arts (LCSH) Cataloging Lab – Problem LCSH [60]
eugenic/s

eugenicist/s

degeneracy

degeneration

racial degeneration

racial deterioration

racial improvement

A movement prevalent in the later half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. Based on the writings of Francis Galton, eugenicists believed in the sterilisation or even euthanasia of disabled people and others such as the mentally ill or “morally degenerate” to prevent what they described as “racial deterioration” or “degeneracy”. 1850- Historic England - Disability Glossary [61]
Eurafrican Term for mixed-race people used in 20th century Central/Southern Africa.


Trying to escape the “half-caste” label in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia), many mixed-race individuals self-identified as “Eurafrican” because they felt it politically important to stress their direct descent from Europeans.

Northern Rhodesia, Zambia Carissa Chew - British colonial constructions of the “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective [62]
Eurasian Term for some mixed-race people, used in South and Southeast Asia for example. The term is generally considered outdated, however, it is worth noting that when the British officially introduced the term “Anglo-Indian” to the Indian census in 1911, it caused tension with people of mixed European and Indian ancestry who self-identified as “Eurasian”, some of whom continued to use this term as a means of defiance. Ho, Engseng.“Inter-Asian Concepts for Mobile Societies,” The Journal of Asian Studies 76 (2017): 907-928, p.916.


Carissa Chew - British colonial constructions of the “half-caste” category in world-historical perspective [63]

exotic “Exotic” literally means “from the outside” in Ancient Greek, but it means foreign/alien today and has become intertwined with colonial ideas about non-white people as racialised and sexualised Others.

Exotic is applicable when referring to flora/fauna species. It is not an appropriate term to describe people of colour.

Far East
Fetishism Preferred subject heading: Figure sculpture, African OR Ceremonial objects.


“Fetishes" and "Fetish figures" were applied to African objects by European colonisers as a condescending interpretation of African culture. More accurate language is available to describe the objects.

Africa Cataloging Lab – Problem LCSH [64]

V&A [65]

fuzzies

fuzzy wuzzy

fuzzy-wuzzy

fuzzy wuzzy angels

A colonialist term used to refer to the Hadendoa warriors (or Hadendoa Beja) of Sudan and Eritrea in the nineteenth century, referring to the distinctive hairstyle called dirwa or tiffa. The term was popularised in Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem "Fuzzy-Wuzzy", which produced racist stereotypes of the Hadendoa soldiers who fought the British Army in Sudan and Eritrea during the Mahdist War (1881-1899).The term “fuzzies” has since been used to refer to Black people more generally, appearing in Tintin, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dad's Army, and the 1964 film Zulu.


In the Second World War, Australian soldiers also used the term “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” to describe Papua New Guinean stretcher bearers.

North Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Papua New Guinea Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [66]

Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [67]

Wikipedia – Fuzzy-Wuzzy [68]

Phrase Finder [69]

God (Islam) (LCSH) Allah Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [70]


Challenges facing catalogers in describing and indexing Middle Eastern books and periodicals [71]

gook/s A derogatory term for East Asians, particularly aimed towards Japanese and Koreans. Its use as an ethnic slur towards Koreans has been traced to U.S. Marines serving in the Philippines in the early 20th century. In 1920, it was reported that US Marines used the term to refer to Haitians. A dictionary in 1935 defined a “gook” as “Anyone who speaks Spanish, particularly Filipino”. USA Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [72]


Wikipedia - gook [73]

hairyback/s

hairy back/s

South African term for Afrikaners South Africa Collins dictionary – hairyback [74]
Hand-to-hand fighting, Oriental (LCSH) Say Shaolin martial arts, if that is what is being referenced. Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [75]
headhunter/s

head-hunter/s

head hunter/s

Historically the term has been used to describe someone who participated in the ritual practice of taking trophy heads, for example during times of war.. Headhunting has long been represented in popular culture to give the impression of primitive, wild, cruel and bloodthirsty tribal peoples of the jungle. This portrayal misrepresents the significant ritual role it had for the proper functioning of those societies that practiced it.


Shuar and Achuar people are from the rainforests of Ecuador and Peru, and were derogatorily referred to as “headhunters”

Ecuador, Peru Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [76]

Pitt Rivers Museum - Shrunken heads [77]

hindostanee
Host society When describing diaspora, it is not preferred to use “host society” when you are talking about a country that is their home.
hottentot/s

Hotentot

black venus

hottentot venus

Vénus noire (French)

Venus noire

hotnot

hodmandod

A Dutch colonial term, first used in the 17th century, to describe the Khoikhoi people who live in the western part of South Africa and modern-day Namibia

.

Europeans stereotyped the Khoikhoi people as oversexed, culturally primitive, and believed that they were at the bottom of the “racial ladder”, most closely related to the orangutan.

In the late 19th century, the “Hottentot Venus” was a popular circus and “freak show” act across Europe, in which a Khoisan woman with a genetic condition known as steatopygia was forced to display her enlarged buttocks to white audiences.


The most famous “Hottentot Venus” was Saartjie (“Sarah”) Baartman (1789-1815), whose human remains were on display at Musee de l’Homme until 1976.


The etymology of “Hottentot” is unclear. One theory is that it has its roots in the Dutch expression for “stammer” or “stutter”. Another is that it is an imitation of the sounds of the Khoisan languages.

“Hodmandod” is an early Anglicised form that appears around 1700. The Afrikaans variation “hotnot” is used as a racial slur towards mixed-race people  (“coloured”) in South Africa today.

Khoikhoi people or Khoisan would be the preferred term.


There is a plant named “hottentot fig”.

Dutch Empire, British Empire, French Empire, 1690-, South Africa, Namibia Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [78]

Wikipedia – Hottentot (term)

hun/s

hun hunting

A contemptuous term used to refer to Germans, especially German soldiers, in WWI and WWII. Germany, WWI, WWII, 1914- Dictionary.com – Hun [79]
Inboorling Term meaning “native” used in the Netherlands from the 13th century onwards that also has connotations of “primitive” and “wild”. In the early 19th century, it was used by some to describe all Indonesians, but it was later ascribed only to so-called “tribal” people in Dutch colonies. Indonesia, Dutch empire Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [80]
Indian/s A term that can be used ambiguously to describe both people from the Indian subcontinent as well as the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is important to distinguish the two.

In the Indian subcontinent context, Indians or South Asians is the correct term for people from the country of British India and modern-day India (i.e. since Independence, people from contemporary Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan no longer identify as “Indian”).

In the USA context, Native Americans is acceptable, although specific ethnic/linguistic/national/religious identity is preferred.

South Asia, USA Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [81]
Indisch Not to be confused with “Indonesian”. The term “Indisch” has changed its meaning over time. In the 19th century it referred to anything Indonesian. In the 20th century it started to refer to Indo-European people and cultures and sometimes to European people who lived in Indonesia for a long period of time. At the end of the 20th century, the term started to be criticised. Today, the word refers to anything coming from the colonial period in the former Dutch East Indies. Indonesia, Dutch Empire Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [82]
indigenous The term, like “native”, describes a specific group of people who identify with a place as an original homeland and have developed long-standing traditions in that place. The term has historically been used to homogenise people of colour, however. Specific ethnic/racial/national identity preferred.

Indigenous peoples (with a capital “I”) is usually acceptable if further information is unknown.


Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [83]

PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [84]

Indo Not to be confused with “Indonesian”. An abbreviation for Indo-European. The term emerged in the colonial period to describe people of mixed Indonesian and European (Dutch) descent. Indonesia, Dutch Empire Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [85]
interracial sex

miscegenation

Harmful when this terminology has historically been used to obscure sexual violence, rape, assault, and coercion under slavery. Sexual violence, sexual assault, rape, coercion under slavery.

Stemming from anxieties about the amalgamation of Black and white communities in the United States of America, the term “miscegenation” was coined in 1864 to denote what white people perceived as the undesirable phenomenon of the “interbreeding of races”.

P. Gabrielle Foreman et al. Writing about “Slavery”? This might help

David G. Croly, et al., Miscegenation; the theory of the blending of the races, applied to the American white man and negro (New York: H. Dexter, Hamilton & Co., 1864).

Peggy Pascoe, What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America (Oxford University Press, 2010)

Jap A pejorative abbreviated form of Japanese, especially offensive to Japanese Americans. Japan, USA Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [86]

Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [87]

Japanese internment camps Incarceration of Japanese Americans in the USA during World War II. “Internment” is considered euphemistic. In this context, “forced removal” is also preferred over “evacuation” and “concentration camp” is preferred to “relocation center”. Densho - Terminology [88]
Jappenkampen Generally, refers to the Japanese camps in Asia during WWII and the camps in Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies in particular. The term is contested by some victims of their descendants. Japan, Dutch Empire, Netherlands Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [89]
Jim Fish Derogatory term for Black South Africans. South Africa, British Empire Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [90]

Urban dictionary – Jim Fish [91]

kaffir/s

kafir/s

kaffer/s

kaffre/s

caffire/s

caffre/s

Kaffir War/s

Kaffirland

British Kaffraria

Derives from the Arabic term “kafir”, meaning one without religion, referring to non-Muslims in the Arab peninsular. In South Africa, it was originally used in the 16th century to describe Black non-Muslim people and later to identify Bantu-speaking people, especially in the wars of conquest of the Eastern Cape. In Afrikaans, as in English, it became a label of Black people of African descent in general. The term gained its derogatory connotation in the Apartheid era, a context in which it is especially offensive, and is now understood as hate speech, sometimes referred to as an equivalent of the n-word.

The “Kaffir Wars” are better known as the Xhosa Wars or Cape Frontier Wars.

“Kaffraria” is the descriptive name given to the southeast part of what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Kaffraria, i.e. “the land of the Kaffirs”, is no longer an official designation since “kaffir” is deemed a racial slur.

Kaffir is only acceptable when referring to a group of Sri Lankan peoples with shared ancestry from Portuguese traders (or more broadly European) and enslaved Bantu peoples who self-identify in this way.

South Africa, Sri Lanka Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs [92]

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [93]

Historical Dictionary of the British Empire - Kaffirs [94]

Kanaka/s “Kanakas” were indentured labourers from the Pacific Islands, especially Melanesians and Polynesians, employed in British colonies such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Queensland (Australia) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The term “kanaka”, which was once widely used in Australia, came to be regarded as an offensive term for a Pacific Islander.


“Kānaka Maoli” or “Kānaka 'Ōiwi” are preferred terms for Native Hawaiians, sometimes shortened to “Kānaka”, however.

British Empire, Pacific Islands, Fiji, Canada, Australia, Hawaiʻi Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [95]
Lascar/s

Laskar/s

Laskari

Lascar Sally

Calcutta Louise

China-faced Nell

“Lascar” was a term used by Europeans to refer to indigenous sailors from the Indian Ocean region – including Arabs, Chinese, east Africans, Filipinos, Malays, and south Asians. (In the UK today, lascar is often mistakenly assumed to mean “Indian”)

Etymologically, the term derives from the Persian/Urdu word “lashkar/lashkari”, meaning “soldier” or “army”, sharing its roots with the term “askari”. In the Indian subcontinent today, the term is generally used to mean “army” or “militia”. “Lascar” gained the connotation “mercenary” or “hired hand” before it came to be used to describe any kind of sailor. It is believed that it acquired this specific nautical meaning in the Portuguese language (“laschar” and “lasquirim”) in the 17th century.

Ship records tell us that these male sailors, from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, were mostly men in their 20s and 30s. They were believed to be excellent sailors, but were treated poorly, paid a fraction of what white sailors earnt, and subject to racialised abuse.

There is evidence that lascars were a notable presence in London as early as the 17th century. Sailors were sometimes recruited through kidnapping and debt-bondage, and children that were sold into lascar servitude were sometimes abandoned in London and Glasgow.

The Laskari language, which was used to communicate aboard ships, developed from English, Malay, Hindustani, Chinese, Malayalam, and other languages spoken on board.


The Collins  English Dictionary defines lascar as “a sailor from the East Indies”.

White women who had relationships with lascars were given derogatory nicknames like “Lascar Sally” and “Calcutta Louise”.

1600-, British Empire, India, South Asia, naval history Ghosh, Amitav. “Of Fanas and Forecastles: The Indian Ocean and Some Lost Languages of the Age of Sail,” Economic and Political Weekly 43.25 (2008), 56-62.

Rozina Visram, Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: Indians in Britain, 1700-1947. Pluto Press, London, 1986.

Michael H. Fischer, Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain, 1600-1857. Permanent Black, 2004.

Our Migration Story - The Lascars [96]

Maritime History Archive - Lascars [97]

Mappilas

Moplah

“Creole” Muslim community in India, the descendants of Middle Eastern sailors, who were part of the Indian Ocean trade network. South Asia, India Ho, Engseng.“Inter-Asian Concepts for Mobile Societies,” The Journal of Asian Studies 76 (2017): 907-928, p.916.


Suhail Hashim, "The Mappilas of Kerala." [98]

maroon/s

cimarrones

cimarrón  (Spanish)

Used to refer to Africans (and their descendants) who escaped from slavery in the Americas, and settled in the inaccessible, interior/mountainous regions. The term is considered derogatory by some as it derived from the 16th century Spanish word cimarrón, meaning “runaway cattle”.

“Maroon” has also been used by some as a term of empowerment, however. The term is accepted by most in Jamaica, for example, but only some in Surinam. Usage of “maroon” is generally accepted but, in the context of Surinam especially, it is preferred to use the specific names for each Maroon group i.e. Samaaka, Matawai, Aluku, Kwinti, Paamaka

Surinam, Jamaica
Mau Mau Originally referred to Kenyans, mostly of the Kikuyu ethnicity, who were involved in the insurgency against British colonialists in the 1950s-60s known as the “Mau Mau rebellion”. This was the name that the British gave to the Land and Freedom Army (LFA) to give the impression that it was a savage cult rather than an organised rebellion against colonial oppression.


The term was often used in the context of British anti-Mau Mau propaganda, which had racist overtones. The Mau Mau movement was violently suppressed by the British, who tortured and killed suspects in concentration camps. The term “Mau Mau” is sometimes also used out of context to suggest that Africans are aggressive and “savage”.

Kenya, British Empire Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Birth of a Dream Weaver I (2016), p.67
medicine man/men

medicine-man

medicine-men

Used to describe traditional or spiritual healers among some Indigenous people. The figure of the ‘Medicine Man’ has often been represented in popular media in sensational and eroticising terms. Such representations have denied the complexity of the knowledge associated with healing, as well as the important role traditional or spiritual healers played in many societies. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [99]
mestizo

meztizo

castizo

mestico (Portuguese)

mameluco/s

mameluke

caboclo

caboco

cariboca

curiboca

The Spanish term “meztizo” term has been used in Spain, Spanish America, and the Phillipines to mean a person of mixed European and Indigenous American heritage, regardless of a person’s place of birth. The term was used as a racial category for mixed race castas during the Spanish Empire.

The Portuguese term “mestiço” was originally used in Brazil to refer to the first generation of people of mixed European and Indigenous American heritage, also known as “mamelucos” (this term was later replaced with “caboclo”).

Wikipedia – Mestizo [100]

Wikipedia – Mestiço [101]

Wikipedia - Mameluco [102]

Mogul Empire (LCSH) Mughal Empire India Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [103]

Wikipedia [104]

Mohammedan/s

Mohameddan/s

Muhameddan/s

Mussalman

A term historically used to reference someone who worships of the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims object to it because Islam teaches the worship of God alone.  Use “Muslim” or “Islamic” Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [105]
Mongoloid/s

Mongolian race

An outdated and derogatory term used to describe a so-called racial type (otherwise known as the “Mongolian race”) and a person with the genetic condition Down syndrome. The Mongol people are an ethnic group, some of whom live as minorities in China and Russia. Mongolia, disability history, history of science Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [106]

National Center on Disability and Journalism, Arizona State University - Disability Language Style Guide [107]

Lonely Planet – Mongol or Mongolian [108]

Moor/s

Maure (French)

A controversial term that has been used to describe different groups of people. The term was first used by Christian Europeans to describe the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during the early modern period. The Moors were initially the indigenous Maghrebine Berbers but the name was later applied to Arabs and Arabised Italians and Muslim Europeans. In the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names “Ceylon Moors” and “Indian Moors” in South Asia and Sri Lanka, and the Bengali Muslims were also called Moors. As a historical term, it has not always been derogative.

It has, however, been used in Europe since antiquity to describe Black people from Africa (deriving from the Ancient Greek “black, blackened, or charred”). The term was also used in a derogatory sense to describe Muslims in general.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [109]
mulatto/s

mulato/s/

mullatoes

Since the 17th century, this term has referred to the first-generation progeny of a non-white person and a white person. The term derives from the Latin ‘mulus’ (‘mule’), the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey. ‘Mulattos’ were deemed to represent the ‘horrors’ of miscegenation but were also conceived to be more intelligent than Black people because of their ‘white blood’. Latin America PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [110]


Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [111]

mumbo jumbo First used in the 1700s in West Africa by travel writer Francis Moore to describe a masked male dancer who takes part in religious ceremonies. In the West, the term has come to mean a confusing or meaningless phrase, sometimes used to mock aspects of non-European cultures. Wikipedia – Mumbo Jumbo (phrase) [112]
munt/s Derogatory slang term used by white people in colonial Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South Africa, and Zambia, toward Black people, especially Black men. Derives from muntu, the singular of Bantu. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [113]
native/s

the native/s

Like “indigenous”, the term “native” can be used in a neutral sense to describe people (or flora/fauna) born to a particular place.

The term, however, is homogenising and reinforces colonial hierarchies whilst also problematically implying an exclusionary racial and ethnic right to a place by a specific group. In Europe today, the term is increasingly used in xenophobic politics. The term is, however, used by some (e.g. Native Americans) in their political claims for sovereignty.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [114]



Near East
nip/s

nippon

Derogatory term for Japanese people. From “Nippo” (the Japanese name for Japan) used in World War II by British, American, and Australian armed forces. USA, Australia, UK, Japan, WWII, 1940s- Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [115]
Oriental/s Oriental derives from the Latin word for “east”. Historically, the term came to be used in Europe to describe people or things from South Asia, East Asia, and the so-called “Middle East”, and was even sometimes used in lieu of “Semite”. The term is criticised for being geographically Eurocentric, and especially for its romanticising and stereotypical image of South Asian, East Asian, and Middle Eastern people as mysterious, “exotic” and foreign. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [116]

Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [117]

Oriental literature (LCSH) Asian literature? (Specifically in the Library of Congress Subject Heading context) Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [118]
Orientalist/s “Orientalist” is an outdated colonialist term for scholars who took interest in any aspect of East Asian, South Asia, or Middle Eastern history, languages, and cultures. The term is homogenising and non-specific.
pardo (masculine)

parda (feminine)

A term used in the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the triracial descendants of Europeans, Amerindians, and West Africans. Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, mixed race history Wikipedia - Pardo [119]
peranakan Term for mixed-race, creole population born of mobile trading men from China, Arabia, and India, and local women. Malaysia, Southeast Asia Ho, Engseng.“Inter-Asian Concepts for Mobile Societies,” The Journal of Asian Studies 76 (2017): 907-928, p.916.
planter/s

plantation

Distinguish between tea planters (India) and slave plantation owners (Caribbean, Americas, etc.) The term “planters” is euphemistic when used to describe enslavers.
phrenology

phrenological

phrenologist/s

Phrenology, considered a pseudoscience today, refers to the practice of measuring skull size and shape to determine a person’s character traits and behavioural patterns. The practice was deeply rooted in racial pseudoscientific theories. These may appear in the papers of George Combe (1788-1858) and his brother Andrew Combe, who founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society at 25 Chambers Street in 1920. As phrenology became increasingly racialised, Edinburgh’s students used it to both promote and refute racist theories. For example, Edinburgh graduate John William Jackson wrote: “contemplated through the medium of Comparative Anatomy, a Negro is but the embryonic, and a Mongol the infantile form of the Caucasian or perfect man.” Wikipedia – Edinburgh Phrenological Society [120]

Brittanica - Phrenology [121]

Andrew Bank – ‘Of “Native Skulls” and “Noble Caucasians”: Phrenology in Colonial South Africa’ [122]

Curious Edinburgh - Racism [123]

pirate

piracy

The term “pirate” should not be taken at face value. A contested term, sometimes used to “Other” and criminalise Indigenous sea-farers or the lower-class. The nuances of the term have been debated by jurists throughout history, and its meanings differ geographically. 1500-, world Anderson, J.L.  “Piracy and World History:  An Economic Perspective on Maritime Predation.”  Journal of World History 6 (1995), 175-199

Rediker, Markus. “The Pirate and the Gallows: An Atlantic Theater of Terror and Resistance” Maritime Histories, Littoral Cultures, and Transoceanic Exchanges, edited by Jerry H. Bentley. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2007.


Planted a colony Avoid this euphemism
Politionele actie Refers to a large-scale military operations carried out by the Dutch army to prevent Indonesian Independence 1945-1949. ‘Politionele actie’ was a euphemistic name that was misleadingly used to mask the true nature of the war and reduced the victims of this violence to ‘rebels’. ‘Agresi Militer Belanda I & II’ are used in Indonesia. In Netherlands, ‘First and Second Dutch-Indonesian Wars’ has also been suggested. Dutch Empire Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [124]
primitive/s

primitiveness

primitivity

prehistoric

pre-historic

prehistorical

primordial

ancient

proto-

pre-modern

backward/s

traditional

tribal

savage

barbarian

underdeveloped

less developed

Third World

Implies that non-Western societies do not belong to modernity. In colonial thought, non-Western cultures were imagined as part of the distant past. In the 19th century, ideas about non-white people being less biologically “evolved” came to the fore. In the mid-20th century, this hierarchy was re-imagined through the neo-colonial discourse of “underdevelopment”. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [125]
Primitive art (LCSH) Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH [126]
pygmy/s

pygmies

pigmy/ies

Pygmy’ is a term used in anthropology to describe diverse peoples, especially from (Equatorial) Africa and Asia, where the adult males are regarded as of unusually short stature. Beyond the term’s use to refer to the physical features of diverse ethnic groups, the term is also used negatively as an insult to critique someone’s intellectual capacities.

Some indigenous peoples, for example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have reclaimed the term as neutral and therefore nonproblematic. Only use pygmy if the people self-identify in this way. Specific ethnic/linguistic/national/religious identity is preferred.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [127]
race/s

racial scientist/s

race science/s

racism/s

racist/s

In racial thinking the colour of one’s skin is regarded as a sign of incommensurable difference between groups, including a hierarchy in aptitude, abilities, even behaviour and development.

According to 18th- and 19th-century racial (pseudo) sciences, humans were divided into different groups, arranged hierarchically. These typologies reinforced colonial ideologies of difference, with the white European or “Caucasian” at the top of the racial hierarchy.

Race is not a fixed biological category, but a socially constructed way of classifying people according to their phenotypical features and ancestry.

While race is not a biological fact, it has social consequences, for example in discrimination, prejudice and inequality. Racism, therefore, should be understood as a form of prejudice and discrimination based on the presumed superiority of one group over another.


Today, we do not speak of ‘race’ as a fact, but recognise different ethnicities, which are social, cultural, linguistic, and religious.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [128]

University of Cambridge – Racial Slurs and Racially Offensive Language [129]

Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, third edition (New York and London: Routledge, 2015), 13.

Race riots 1919 UK, England
sambo/s

samboe/s

zambo/s (Spanish)

"Sambo" (also spelled "Samboe") derives from the Spanish racial classification "Zambo" or "Sambu", which was used in colonial South America to distinguish people of mixed Black and Indigenous ancestry, specifically those with one "mulatto" parent. In the English language, "Sambo" was most commonly used to denigrate people with African heritage, particularly African Americans, although it was also used in a derogatory way towards other non-white people, such as mixed-race people, Native Americans, or South Asians.


In her children's book the Little Black Sambo, the term is used by Helen Bannerman to describe an Indian (South Asian) boy. Yet, the book gained popularity in the USA where subsequent editions were illustrated with racist “picaninny” caricatures of an African American child, thus highlighting the term's multiple racialised meanings.

Latin America, USA, 1700s- Shirley Ann Tate – Decolonising Sambo [130]
savage/s

uncivilised

uncivilized

wild

Dehumanising terms for non-Europeans PCUSA Terminology Crosswalk [131]
servant/s

page/s

footman/men

Baboo

babu

Often found in the descriptions of paintings and photographs. These interrelated terms describe a person employed in another’s household to do diverse domestic duties such as cooking and cleaning, or to be someone’s attendant. The multiple and complex relations that servants may have with their masters makes any too easy judgement of the role of the servant or conditions under which they lived. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [132]
sidi/s

siddi/s

seedee

sidhi

The term “Sidi” (variously spelt) was used to label enslaved Africans and African sailors working in Indian Ocean ports and aboard ships. Note that the term “Sidi” is not preferred by all people of African heritage living in South Asia today. Kaffir is more commonly used in South India and Sri Lanka, and Habshi is more commonly used in Pakistan. South Asia, Africa
slave/s
spade Derogatory term for Black people. First recorded in 1928. Derives from the playing cards suit. Owl apps – List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity [133]
sub-Saharan Africa The term “Sub-Saharan Africa” is disputed on the grounds that the prefix “sub-” implies “lesser”. The phrasing is not used to refer to other parts of the world.
Swastika An ancient symbol used in South Asian religions Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The symbol was appropriated by the Nazi party and by neo-Nazis. WWII, South Asia, Holocaust
Third World

developing nations

less developed

LEDC

low-income countries

Reinforces a division of the world into Western superiority and non-Western inferiority.

The discourse of “development” was used to justify neo-colonial ventures after WWII, from the 1960s.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [134]
traditional

tradition/s

The term “traditional” can take on a negative connotation when used in opposition to other terms such as “modernity” and “progress”, especially when used to describe non-European populations. In some cases, it can be replaced by “historic”. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [135]
tribe/s

tribal

tribesperson

tribesman/men

tribewoman/men

Use with caution. The term has come to connote “primitive”, “simple”, and even “wild”, and is predominantly associated with non-European peoples and cultures. In many contexts,, “tribes” were a colonial construct.

The complexity of the term emerges, however, because some cultural groups have come to embrace the term as a legal and group identity—for example Native North American Tribal Councils. “Tribe” also appears in the Qur’an and has therefore always been an accepted term in the Arab world. Even then, this term is still contested for its negative connotations. The term has very infrequently been used to describe ethnic groups in Europe.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [136]

P. Gabrielle Foreman et al. Writing about “Slavery”? This might help

Western

West

the West

The West is an ideological, historical, economic and geographical concept, the meaning of which has shifted over time. The term represents both a mental and physical division of the world that categorises and contrasts people, cultures, religions and regions, placing them in a hierarchy. Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [137]
West Indian/s
white/s As an ideological category formed and consolidated in European racial (pseudo)sciences, “white” was historically understood to connote progress, sophistication, and civilisation.

Since the latter part of the 20th century there has been sustained critique of the social construction of “whiteness” as norm, arguing that it is an identity category that emerged to justify or reinforce discrimination against non-white people.

Avoid capitalisation. The capitslisation of “White” is associated with white supremacist movements.

Tropenmuseum – Words Matter [138]
Zwarte Piet Dutch “Black Pete” blackface Christmas character Becky Little – National Geographic [139]