Impactful Inclusion Toolkit

ACTIVITY 27Avoid Common Terms That Divide Us

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

—George Santayana

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Commonly used language in business has an inherent built-in bias toward masculinity and privilege, as business systems and structures were designed by and for the benefit of the majority culture. Our perceptions are shaped by what we see and hear, and the words we hear every day inform our reality. An article on HuffPost.com shares, “Language is very powerful. Language does not describe reality. Language creates the reality that it describes.” Think about that. When we continually hear words and phrases, they consciously or unconsciously shape how we see things. Remnants of ideals from centuries ago remain in workplaces of today. Today, it's hard for many to fathom a time when women were considered property, not allowed to vote, or earn a paycheck. Though that time has passed, male chauvinism is alive and well in the workplace as women are objectified and receive less pay than men for equal work, signaling that women are less valuable. The marginalization of Black people was designed with intention with laws like Jim Crow, which legalized racial segregation and denied Black people the right to vote, hold jobs, and acquire an education, signifying that Black people are not worthy of equal rights based on skin color. Acts of anti-Blackness persist with the killings and beatings of unarmed Black men and women as individuals hold unfounded beliefs ...