Bias-Free and Anti-Racist Writing

In keeping with Cultivate Learning’s values of equity, diversity, and belonging, writers should be diligent to ensure their material is free of bias and racism. The APA style guide offers many guidelines to ensure bias-free writing. These guidelines include biases based on:

• racial and ethnic identity,
• age,
• gender,
• sexual orientation,
• disability,
• socioeconomic status, and
• intersectionality.

Child Trends also offers guidelines for writing with a racial and ethnic equity lens about education.

Recommendations

If possible, ask individuals their preferences when you identify them by race, gender, disability, or another label. When it is not possible to ask, or your use is not tied to a specific person, consider these guidelines:

• Use Native American or American Indian. (APA slightly prefers Native American.)
• Use non-native instead of White in contexts with Native American or American Indian. White is preferable in most other contexts.
• Capitalize Black and White in reference to racial identity. Do not use colors to describe any other group.
• Use parallel language: For example, use Asian American, African American, and European American, not Asian American, Black, and White.
• Don’t identify people gratuitously. Identify people by race or ethnicity only when it is relevant.
• Use racialized identity instead of race, except in quotations on some projects. In particular, DCYF has started using this term. Check with the project leader or project sponsor to determine which term is preferred. When introducing the topic of racialized identity, explain that it describes a social and cultural identity, rather than one’s geographical or family origin. Society imposes these identities on people. (Some suggested plain language to explain this: Although race has no genetic basis, skin color is often used to identify people. Many systems in the United States benefit people who look White. The term racialized identity better captures that race is assigned and used to oppress those who are not White.)
• Ethnicity, or ethnic identity, relates to a person’s family and geographical origin. When a person’s ethnicity is relevant, identify people as specifically as possible, rather than by a general classification. (e.g., Writing a person who immigrated from Ghana is more respectful and descriptive than an African immigrant.)
• Use enslaved instead of slave. Defer to people-first language when writing about slavery. ( e.g., people who were enslaved.)
• White supremacy (lowercase supremacy)
• Use caution with phrases like in the field or from the field when referring to educators who work directly with children. The reference can sound condescending and conjure images of enslaved workers in the cotton fields. Instead use more precise language such as at early childcare centers or something similar. Using field to mean an area of study is acceptable (e.g., the early education field).

Software Tools

Microsoft Word offers many tools in its editing function to help flag subconscious biases in your work. For example, you can turn on some features in Word to flag issues of age, gender, or racial bias in your work. While these features help, you should always review the suggestions and use your understanding of the content and context before accepting the tool’s suggestions. To turn on Microsoft Word’s editing features:

1. Click File > Options > Proofing.
2. Scroll to Writing Style and toggle to Grammar & Refinements.
3. Click Settings at the end of that line.
4. Choose the items you want Word to check.

When you open the Editor pane, Word will suggest changes for each issue it finds in the categories you checked. You may amend the text yourself, accept Word’s suggestion, or ignore it. Again, do not let Word dictate how you write, but use the tools to help you see your blind spots.