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Green Spaces Issue
Issue 5
Terminology matters
Guidance Paper 5
Terminology matters
Black Environment Network - June '03
This discussion and guidance paper is
written in response to the recently
increased use of the phrase “Black
and Asian” in the press and media
and within major institutions when
referring to issues which relate to all
ethnic minority communities. It also aims
to stimulate consideration when using
terminology to describe social groups
within our society who originating from
different parts of the world.
The meaning of terms used in day to
day language is constantly evolving. It
also changes according to the local
context. The consequence is that there is
a range of terms and meanings across the
country. It is therefore important at a
national level to use terms which result
in a common meaning as far as is
possible.
- “Black and Asian“ is
not inclusive terminology with
regard to the diverse cultures in
multicultural Britain. It makes
many groups feel excluded, and
indeed offended as a result of
feeling excluded by those who
they see as people who have been
given the responsibility to work
towards including them. It
excludes people from white
minority ethnic cultures in
Britain.
- BEN has found that the term
“Black” used on its
own, particularly if not
capitalised, is felt by different
dark-skinned groups from
different origins to be
unrepresentative of their
identity. How black is
“Black” ? How does it
relate to mixed race persons ?
Here lies one of the major issues
of the day - multicultural
diversity embodied in single
persons.
- Many Africans feel that the term
“Black” means
Afro-Caribbean and excludes them.
Most of the population feel that
“Black” means
Afro-Caribbean. Caribbean ethnic
groups such as the Chinese and
Asians hailing from Trinidad, or
Arabs from Jamaica feel they are
always excluded under the term
“Afro-Caribbean”.
- To add to the confusion, various
organisations and researchers are
using the word “Black”
as defining only particular
ethnic groups of their choice.
They feel it is acceptable
because the groups they refer to
are clearly identified in each
document.
- If “Black and Asian “
is seen as an adequate term
because Asians (defined as Asians
from the Indian Sub-continent)
and Afro-Caribbean are recognised
as the majority in numbers among
ethnic minorities, we would then
be falling into line with
institutions which claim that as
white people are in the majority
it is OK to ignore the rest,
since most people are included.
- “Asian” is an accepted
popularised British misuse of the
original word which is a
geographical term. Before this
misuse of the term
“Asian” had become
accepted, many ethnic minority
groups which originate from the
continent of Asia were extremely
upset. Ambiguity still remains in
the popular understanding of the
meaning of the term. Awareness of
this scenario has led to the term
“South Asian” or the
full phrase “Asians from the
Indian Sub-continent” to
express what the popularised term
“Asian” means in
Britain - it excludes the
Chinese, the Thai etc. who also
come from the continent of Asia.
- The Indian sub-continent itself
embraces many politically,
ethnically and cultural diverse
groups with distinct identities.
Certain people propose that the term
`ethnic' describes everyone. Technically
it is true that everyone has an `ethnic
origin' - it appears in everyone's
doctor's case notes for example. But in
the real world, the day to day use of the
term “ethnic” and
“minority ethnic” describes
cultures other than the majority white
British culture. In the main, everyone is
able to cite correctly who is being
talked about when the terms “ethnic
communities”, “ethnic
minorities”, “minority ethnic
cultures”, or “ethnic cultural
heritage” are used. Of course we
need to discuss and develop terminology.
However, we cannot ignore the fact that
we can communicate to society at large
only through contemporary popular
language. For the time being,
“ethnic” and “minority
ethnic” are still the most useful,
inclusive and socially meaningful
descriptive terms.
When Black Environment Network was
first formed, we went into prolonged
discussions re terms, and found that the
terms “Black” and “ethnic
minorities” change in meaning and
acceptability as one moved across the
regions of Britain. In highly politicised
Merseyside, nearly all ethnic minority
groups united under the term
“Black” used as a political
term to describe all those who do not
belong to the white mainstream
population. However, in other areas such
as in the West Midlands, we were told by
many groups that as they were not dark
enough to be deemed “black”
they found it very awkward to ever
identify with the term. Various groups
also resented the term “ethnic”
because they understood it to describe
“peasants”, “exotic but
uneducated people”. Many groups
ultimately want to be accurately
described as themselves, for example
Bangladeshi, Nigerian or Iraqi, and not
as a homogenous group of “ethnic
minorities”. They rightly feel that
their specific needs are often not
attended to because they are described as
a general mythical other.
It is true that we cannot get it right
for everyone and the aim of this paper is
to stimulate the necessary discussion.
The national debate is at an early stage.
Maybe more consensus or even new terms
may emerge as the conversation matures.
In the meantime, for all of us, a
decision has to be made re the
terminology which one uses. The position
of an organisation is ultimately known by
promoting the context within which it
works. By all means gravitate to a term
of your choice. Include your definition
in key leaflets and papers, and promote
it in association with your work. BEN
itself gravitated to using the term
“black” symbolically in its
name, always stating what we mean by it -
BEN uses the term “black”
symbolically, recognising that the Black
communities are the most visible of all
ethnic communities. We work with black,
white and other ethnic communities.
When referring to research or academic
documents, look for a definition when the
terms “ Black”, “Black and
Asian”, “multicultural”
etc. are used. The meaning of terminology
vary, for reasons ranging from particular
academic definitions, differing
understandings and positioning of the
organisations concerned, to the practical
declaration of boundaries for a piece of
research. Certain organisations may
define terms in relation to the issue
they are trying to address. When
referring to older documents, it is
useful to be aware of the
definition/understanding of the terms as
used at that time. Definitions do put the
content in context for you, e.g. The Arts
Council document “Achieving the Arts
of England's Culturally Diverse
Communities (1999)” defines
“Black” as follows: “Black
refers to people of African, Caribbean,
Asian and Chinese origins in accordance
with the Arts Council's 1994 definition
of cultural diversity”.
In the main, BEN has moved away from
the term “ethnic minorities”,
preferring to use the term “ethnic
communities” and “ethnic
community groups”, because although
in the UK context its meaning is clear,
when working regionally or locally, in a
significant number of cases, the ethnic
`minorities' are the majority local
population. In all, our opinion is that
“ethnic communities”,
“ethnic groups”, “minority
ethnic culture” and “ethnic
minorities” still feature as the
most useful and inclusive terms.
“Black and minority ethnic
groups” or BMEgroups has recently
become an officially preferred term.
There are many valid reasons for which
“Black” groups fought to gain
the status of being named as needing a
separateness within the range of ethnic
minority groups.
This, understandably creates tension
within the range of ethnic minority
groups, as the contemporary
socio-political scenario is constantly
shifting the balance. For example, at the
present times, since September 11, there
is a real case for giving particular
attention to Muslim groups. The fact is,
that being named as a category within
officialdom does switch on targeted
strategic action and resources.
When one is working locally, the best
policy is to approach community groups to
assess the local picture and find out
exactly how they wish to be described.
Download
Guidance Paper 5
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