Antiracist and Inclusivity Best Practices Guide

How to Use This Style Guide

This is a living document for feedback and suggestions on antiracist and inclusive language to include in a DEI best practices guide. (Here is the current Inclusive Language section of the style guide used by Editorial and Editorial Services.) This guide addresses inclusive language for these categories of identity:

Not all of the current style guide is included here, so some issues are already addressed in the link above. 

The Terms to Use section shows exactly how words and phrases should appear in a story’s text, including if they’re capitalized or lowercase. 

In many cases, it’s not necessary or relevant to add anything about a person’s identity. When it is necessary or relevant, always ask people what language they want you to use.*

*Please note: Research papers and studies are the exception to this rule, as the wording in a publication should match the labels used in the research.

Race/Ethnicity

  • Only mention a person’s identity when necessary or relevant to a story
  • If necessary and relevant to a story, always ask people how they identify themselves 
  • Be specific when talking about race/ethnicity; don’t lump all “people of color” together
  • Be careful using Latino and Hispanic (both are acceptable, but mean different things: Latino refers to people from Latin America; Hispanic refers to strictly Spanish-speaking people)
  • Don’t use hyphens for ethnic groups (i.e., African Americans, Asian Americans)
  • Never use just minority (use minority ethnic group, racial minority, etc.) 

Terms to Use

  • AANHPI (Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander)
  • antiracist/antiracism
  • antisemitism (not anti-Semitism)
  • BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) (use sparingly and only when appropriate)
  • biracial/multiracial (ask individuals for their preference)
  • Black (capitalized in all instances referring to people)
  • enslaved person/people/person who is/was enslaved
  • Latino/Latina (ask individuals for their preference)
  • systemic racism (not systematic racism)
  • white

Terms to Avoid

  • people of color (when talking about specific issues that target groups)
  • brown (in referring to race)
  • Latinx
  • mixed race (unless someone identifies as such)
  • master/slave
  • Caucasian
  • Black leader

Native/Indigenous Nations

  • Only mention a person’s identify when necessary or relevant to a story
  • If necessary and relevant to a story, always ask people how they identify themselves
  • Identify individuals by tribal affiliation, when possible
  • Land acknowledgment guidelines

Terms to Use

  • Indigenous (when referring to Indigenous people and cultures)
  • Native American/American Indian (ask individuals for their preference)
  • An individual’s specific tribe (e.g., Ojibwe, Wampanoag, etc.)

Terms to Avoid

Gender/Sexual Orientation

  • Only mention a person’s identify when necessary or relevant to a story
  • If necessary and relevant to a story, always ask people how they identify themselves
  • Ask all people what pronouns they’d like to use in a story or if they prefer no pronouns (asking only those assumed to be nonbinary or transgender can be marginalizing)
  • Add information about difference between sex and gender; best practice for denoting a person’s pronouns; deadnaming
  • Use gender neutral language (without –man suffix), when able (i.e., police officer, first-year student, news reporter, etc.)
  • They can be used as singular pronoun

Terms to Use

  • LGBTQ+ (expand upon request, i.e., LGBTQIA+)
  • nonbinary
  • genderqueer 
  • queer
  • gender nonconforming
  • transgender/cisgender 

Terms to Avoid

  • Gendered language: freshman and upperclassmen, chairman, manned vehicle, etc.

Disability

  • The language used depends on the story subjects and audience
  • Add a note to the top of the story with an explanation about the specific language used in the story (e.g., autistic people vs. people with autism)
  • Invisible disabilities categories, guidelines, etc. 

Terms to Use

  • ADD/ADHD
  • people with disabilities
  • deaf/Deaf (capitalized when talking about Deaf culture)
  • hearing person (if needed in story)
  • blind, limited vision, low vision, partially sighted, visually impaired (ask the person how they identify; all have different meanings)
  • sighted person (if needed in story) 
  • autistic people/people with autism; autistic children/children with autism (ask the person how they identify)
  • has/lives with bipolar disorder/disability/chronic health condition
  • died by suicide/death by suicide/lost their life to suicide 
  • Asperger’s syndrome (no longer diagnosed, but some people still identify this way)
  • wheelchair user/person who uses a wheelchair
  • neurodivergent/neurotypical (for individuals)
  • neurodiverse (referring to groups)
  • person/people living with mental illness
  • person/people with substance use/alcohol use disorder

Terms to Avoid

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • disabled people
  • committed suicide
  • mentally ill/insane
  • drug abuser/addict
  • alcoholic

Socioeconomic Status

Terms to Use

  • person/people without housing/people experiencing homelessness
  • under-resourced (use with countries, states, cities, towns, etc.)
  • undocumented immigrant/unauthorized immigrant

Terms to Avoid

  • homeless people/the homeless
  • transients
  • the poor/poor people
  • low-class people
  • inner-city/ghetto
  • illegal immigrant 

General Words and Terms to Avoid

  • Avoid metaphors to racially charged tragic events (i.e., Pearl Harbor, ground zero, 9/11, suicide bombing, kamikaze, internment)
  • powwow (use only when referring to specific event; avoid usage for general meeting)
  • Hawaiian (use Hawaii resident)
  • colorblind (as in people or societies that don’t see race)
  • tribe (only use when speaking specifically about Native American tribes; do not use as a term for general group of people)
  • blacklist/whitelist (use blocklist/allowlist)
  • cakewalk
  • chief
  • China doll 
  • eeny, meenie, miney, moe
  • exotic
  • grandfathered in
  • gypped/jipped
  • long time no see/no can do
  • moron
  • mumbo jumbo
  • peanut gallery
  • sold down the river
  • spirit animal
  • totem pole (use person of lower rank)
  • lynch mob
  • uppity

          Additional Resources

          1. WSU Editorial Style Guide — Inclusive language
          2. BU Student Task Force on LGBTQIA+ Students 
          3. GLAAD Media Reference Guide
          4. Center for Addiction and Mental Health Language Guidelines

          Feedback and Comments

          If you have feedback or comments, please email: Marc Chalufour (mchalu4@bu.edu), Meredith Mann (mgmann@bu.edu), Jess Colarossi (jrcola@bu.edu), or Rob Matheson (rwmath@bu.edu).

          Contact Information

          (Coming soon) Experts across campus who can talk more about a specific subject.