AAPI: Acronym for Asian American Pacific Islander.

ALAANA: Acronym that references people of African, Latin-a/o/x/e, Asian, Arab, and/or Native American descent and organizations whose primary intentions, practices and missions are by, for and about ALAANA artists, cultures and communities. ASC uses this because, like our peers at Grantmakers in the Arts, we understand that many believe “people of color” conflates together entire groups of people as a contrast to white, resulting in a continued centering of whiteness as the norm.

BIPOC: Acronym for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. The term highlights the relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context. 

Black: A racial, ethnic or cultural identifier that conveys an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among those who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. ASC follows the lead of the Associated Press in using and capitalizing “Black” instead of African American to convent “an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa.”

Cultural Competence: Loosely defined as the ability to understand, appreciate and interact with people from cultures or belief systems different from one’s own. 

Cultural Equity: Cultural Equity embodies the values, beliefs, policies and practices that ensure all people are represented in the development of arts, science, history and heritage policy; support of artists and cultural creators; nurturing of accessible, relevant and innovative venues for expression; and, just distribution of programmatic, financial and informational resources. ASC’s Community Investment Committee, composed of seven ASC Board members and five non-members broadly representative of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community crafted a working definition of cultural equity to guide ASC’s work, creating a framework to set organizational policies and practices and providing external visibility for the organization’s commitment to cultural equity.

DEI: Acronym for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Disabled: Also “Disability Status” and “Communities with Disabilities.” Disability is a term used to define factors that limit significant life activities or experiences considered to be typical among individuals who do not experience a disability. Such restrictions may be physical or mental and may be permanent or temporary. Some examples of disability: vision/hearing impairment, mobility impairment, mental disorder, autism, etc. ASC’s practice is to not mention a disability unless it is essential to what is being communicated.

Equity: The guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. 

Ethnicity: Refers to a group of people of the same nationality or land of origin who share a distinct and/or common culture. Typically understood as something we acquire, or self-ascribe, based on factors like where we live or the culture we share with others.   

Gender/Gender Identity: Gender identity refers to socially constructed roles, behavior, activities, and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women. Gender identity is also an individual’s self-conception, as distinguished from biological sex, which is based solely on physical characteristics assigned at birth. In addition to man/male, woman/female, and non-binary (among other options), there is also the potential qualifier of “transgender,” meaning one’s gender identity does not match one’s assigned biological sex, and “cisgender,” which means one’s gender identity does match one’s assigned biological sex. “Gender nonconforming” or “gender fluid” is another identifier, used to indicate that one doesn’t adhere to stereotypical understandings of gender expression or roles.   

Historically Excluded/Marginalized Group: Any group of people that have been historically excluded from full rights, privileges and opportunities in a society or organization. See “Underinvested/Underrepresented Community.”

Immigrant Status: People who live permanently in the United States, whether the person is a non-immigrant, an immigrant or a non-permanent resident.  

Latin-a/o/x/e: Latino and Latina, as well as the gender-neutral Latinx and Latine, refer to people of Latin American descent. ASC refers to individuals by their country of descent instead of one of these identifiers whenever possible. Based on research and feedback from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community, when referencing groups of individuals of Latin American descent, ASC uses Latino.

LGBTQ+/LGBTQIA: Acronyms for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Plus/Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex and Asexual.  

Pronouns: Refers to the gender pronouns (“he/him/his”; “she/her/hers”; “they/them/theirs”; etc.) a person uses. Often used during introductions, this is becoming more common as a standard practice. To promote inclusivity, ASC staff members include their pronouns in their email signatures.

Race: The idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups based on inherited physical and behavioral differences. 

Sexual Orientation: An individual’s physical and/or emotional attraction to another individual. A person’s sexual orientation is separate from that person’s gender identity. Some examples: straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, queer, same-sex attracted. 

Underinvested/Underrepresented Community: Also “Marginalized.” Relegated to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group. ASC uses “historically excluded/marginalized group” to make clear that ALAANA-led organizations and creatives have historically been excluded from resources or have had limited access to resources.

White Supremacy: The existence of racial power that denotes a system of structural or societal racism which privileges white people over others, regardless of the presence or the absence of racial hatred.