Videos and Tools

• 3 Ways to Speak English

A TedTalk by Jamila Lyiscott that challenges what it means to be “articulate;” celebrates her trilingualism and challenges racial discrimination and Eurocentrism

• Vershawn Young: Code Meshing

Vershawn Young discusses the differences between code switching and code meshing and argues that people/institutions who do not accept code meshing perpetuate racism

• Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future

Book [PDF] by Asao Inoue about assessing writing through an antiracist lens

• Writing with an Antiracist Lens

Article that articulates writing with an antiracist lens: educate yourself; be specific and think critically; use words that honor humanity and power; assess relationship dynamics; slow down. Consultant notes: This resource would be especially helpful to writers at our WC who write about BIPOC populations as subject matters in their studies or as the people most affected by certain public health issues. I haven’t used this resource in consultations yet, but I will be from now on. I didn’t think about how the hyphen in African-American or audiences realizing the contextual meaning of BIPOC could affect how a paper is perceived and whether it is taken seriously by audiences. - Rupini

• Inclusive and Antiracist Writing Overview

From Simon Fraser University: principles of inclusive and antiracist writing and additional resources

• Strategies for Embracing Anti-Racist Work in Our Classrooms

From Education Week: discusses listening, decentering yourself, learning history, understanding equity, and building community

• Workshopping Antiracism in the Writing Center

From Praxis: details a workshop called “Beyond Inclusion: Developing a Mindful Approach to Racial Justice in Tutor Training”

• How to Responsibly Write and Edit with Antiracism in Mind

From Technica: discusses thinking of your readers, not rigidly following style guides, expanding the voices at the table, and making diversity the norm

• Addressing Racial Diversity in a Writing Center

Prezi about the stories of two people involved in a writing center

• Approaching Writing with an Antiracist Perspective

From San José State University Writing Center: includes definitions and antiracist strategies for writing

• Effective Teaching Is Anti-Racist Teaching

From Brown University: provides activities, discussions, and assessment ideas for antiracist teaching 

• Translanguaging: Practice Briefs for Educators

From Theory, Research, and Action in Urban Education: discusses challenges faced by language-minoritized children, describes translanguaging, and talks about translanguaging in instruction and assessment

Inclusive Language Guides

• Inclusive & Antiracist Writing Resources: Overview 

From SFU: overview of inclusive, antiracist language and why it’s important to critically think about when writing. Includes a glossary of terms

• Inclusive Language

From US General Services Administration: inclusive language for ability/disability, age, gender/sexuality, nationality, race, ethnicity, and religion

• Inclusive Language Guide

From Northwestern University: discusses person-centered language, intersectionality, language around addiction, criminal justice, demographics and race, ability, gender, medicine, mental health, and socioeconomics 

• Inclusive Language Guidance

From Unitarian Universalist Association: lists things to be mindful about when writing and checking assumptions

• Inclusive Language Guide

From National Assembly of State Arts Agencies: includes many links to inclusive language guides

• Gender 101: Supporting Gender Diversity in the Writing Center

From Highline College: includes terms and definitions about gender diversity and actions to take in the writing center

• The Radical Copyeditor’s Style Guide for Writing About Transgender People 

Discusses the importance of inclusive language when writing about transgender people; defines terms and emphasizes that they often change; emphasizes speaking with transgender people themselves for writers to understand how they would like to be referred to in writing

• The Language of Identity

From Mizzou: lists inclusive words and defines them

Editorial Choices

• To Hyphenate or Not to Hyphenate? 

From Boundless Voices: a discussion of the politics of hyphenating Asian American/Asian-American or not.

• A public letter to the Associated Press: Listen to the nation and capitalize Black

From Brookings: a letter urging the AP to capitalize Black (published June 16, 2020)

• Why we will lowercase white

Consultant notes: Published in the summer of 2020, this article discusses reasons the Associated Press (AP) chose to capitalize Black and lowercase white when writing about race, ethnicity, and culture. The article presents reasons some institutions/individuals capitalize white when referring to race and explains their reasoning for not doing so. The AP mentions that they will periodically review their decision, acknowledging that language usage changes over time. Note that there is no “correct” way to write about race, but as a Writing Center we encourage you to learn more about this debate and reflect on the impact your choice may have on readers. -Rebekah  

• The decision to capitalize Black and not white

From the Daily Universe: a white editor explaining why they chose to capitalize Black and not white

• Recognizing Race in Language: Why We Capitalize “Black” and “White”

Consultant notes: Published in March of 2020, this article is from the Center for the Study of Social Policy and explains why they capitalize both Black and White when writing about race. As an organization committed to anti-racism, they argue that “To not name ‘White’ as a race is, in fact, an anti-Black act which frames Whiteness as both neutral and the standard.” Note that there is no “correct” way to write about race, but as a Writing Center we encourage you to learn more about this debate and reflect on the impact your choice may have on readers. -Rebekah