Language and terminology
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic - “BAME” or “B.A.M.E.” - Non white ethnicities who are minoritised in the UK. Used by the ONS for reporting to compare white population and others. Recent report by Commission on race and Ethnic disparity calls for the end of “BAME”. It disguises huge differences in outcomes between ethnic groups. It is demeaning to be categorised in relation to what they are not, rather than are. We do not use “BAME” or B.A.M.E.”.
Ethnic Minority/Minority Ethnic - Racial groups in the minority, except White British. Consider that these minorities in the UK are often majorities in the global population. Ethnic minorities in the UK does include Gypsy, Roma and Irish Travellers.
Ethnicity - Broader, usually used to refer to shared cultural experiences, religious practices, traditions, ancestry, language, national origin.
People of Colour (POC)/Black, Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) - Seen as more positive than “BAME”, as does not refer to majority white race. Used mainly in the US, but creeping into the UK language. Has similar challenges to BAME in grouping people with different experiences together. The Black and indigenous was added to reflect these under represented groups more recently to be more inclusive.
Protected characteristics – Protected characteristics are specific aspects of a person's identity defined by the Equality Act 2010. The 'protection' relates to protection from discrimination.
Social mobility - Not one of the 9 protected characteristics. It plays an important role in Diversity and having representation of different perspectives and learned experiences. The wrong accent, address, school, education can all be reasons for lack of mobility.
Unconscious Bias - How a person thinks can depend on their life experiences and sometimes they have beliefs and views about other people that might not be right or reasonable. This is known as 'unconscious bias' and includes when a person thinks better of someone because they believe they're alike or less of someone because that person is different to them. This means they could make a decision influenced by false beliefs or assumptions. The main bias are as following: Affinity, Attribution, Beauty, Conformity, Confirmation, Gender, The Halo effect, The Contrast effect, Ageism and Name bias.