Welcome to The Diversity Style Guide

The Diversity Style Guide is a resource to help journalists and other media professionals cover a complex, multicultural world with accuracy, authority and sensitivity. This guide, initially a project of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University, brings together definitions and information from more than two dozen style guides, journalism organizations and other resources.

The guide contains more than 700 terms related to race/ethnicity, disability, immigration, sexuality and gender identity, drugs and alcohol, and geography. You can browse the stylebook by letter or by category using one of the topic glossaries in the drop-down menu above. Or you can look up a term in the search box below.

Each entry refers back to the original source. Material in brackets [ ] was added to the original source’s definition. Terms without a reference source were written by the editor, with help or advice from experts in the field.

At the bottom of each entry is an icon, linking to a topic glossary of related terms.

SDX-Foundation_SPJ_Logo2The Diversity Style Guide is supported by grants from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists and the College of Liberal and Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. It is edited by Rachele Kanigel, a professor of journalism at San Francisco State University.

If there’s a term we’re missing or a resource you’d like to share, drop us a line on our Contact page.

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  • B.C.
    Literally, before Christ or the Christian era. Scholars and textbooks are increasingly using the abbreviations B.C.E. for “before the common era” and C.E. for “common era” to avoid using terms defined by their relation to Christianity. See A.D.
  • baby boom
    U.S. Births: 1940-1980 (Baby Boomer Generation in Red) Data from U.S. Census Bureau Infographic by Arash Malekzadeh using Infogr.am A baby boom is any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate, but the term is most often applied to the dramatic increase in births after World War II. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 76 million Americans were born during the post-war baby boom (1946–1964). For more about the baby boom, see The Baby Boom Cohort in the United States: 2012 to 2060, a report by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • Bahá’í, the Bahá’í Faith
    The Bahá’í Faith is a monotheistic religion. Its founder, Bahá’u’lláh, taught that all religions represent progressive stages in the revelation of God’s will. There are no clergy; the faith’s affairs are administered by a network of democratically elected councils. The terms Bahaism and Bahaist are incorrect; use the Bahá’í Faith to refer to the religion and Bahá’í to refer to an adherent. For more about Bahá’í Faith go to bahai.org, the website of the worldwide Bahá’í community.
  • banana
    A slang term and pejorative reference used by Asian Americans when referring to Asian Americans who identify more with whites than with other Asian Americans. Use only in direct quotes.
  • Baptist
    When capitalized, the term generally refers to a member of a Protestant* group marked by baptism by immersion of individuals who profess faith in Jesus Christ. Baptists commonly call this practice believer’s baptism. This distinguishes them from groups that practice infant baptism, such as Catholics and Episcopalians. * This entry has been modified to remove the word "evangelical" from the definition and add "Protestant"
  • bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah
    Often translated as “son of the commandment” in Hebrew and Aramaic since "bar" is "son" in Aramaic and "mitzvah" is "commandment" in both Hebrew and Aramaic. ["Bat" is daughter in Hebrew and Aramaic.] [However, a more accurate translation of bar/bat mitzvah is “subject to the commandments.”] This is a milestone in Judaism in which a person is no longer a child in the eyes of Jewish law and is now responsible for his or her own actions spiritually, ethically and morally. A boy automatically reaches the milestone at age 13, while a girl reaches it at age 12 (bat mitzvah). No ceremony is required to mark the passage, although religious ceremonies and receptions are commonplace. [Technically, the term refers to the child who is coming of age, and it is strictly correct to refer to someone as "becoming a bar (or bat) mitzvah." However, the term is commonly used to refer to the coming-of-age ceremony itself, and people often talk about "having a bar mitzvah" or "going to a bar mitzvah."]
  • belonging
    A sense of fitting in or feeling you are accepted by a group; feeling valued and respected by others in a workplace, group, society, etc. This term is frequently used with diversity, equity and inclusion for initiatives, committees, etc. Together, they are sometimes abbreviated DEIB. Added April 2023
  • Bible Belt
    Areas of the United States that are noted for a prevalence of strict evangelical Christian teachings, particularly in the South and Midwest. Writer H.L. Mencken coined the phrase in 1925 while reporting on the Scopes Trial in Tennessee. It can be considered offensive in some contexts so the term should be used carefully.
  • Bible-believing
    A term used by some Christians to describe their emphasis on the authority and primacy of Scripture, as in Bible-believing Christians. By definition, however, all Christians believe the Bible. Thus, journalists should avoid using this term except when it is clear people are using it to describe themselves.  
  • bindi, or bindhi
    Pronounced “BIN-dhee.” The decoration worn on the forehead by many Hindu women. There are various explanations for the bindi: It can be a blessed symbol that signifies female energy and is believed to protect women and their husbands; a traditional symbol of marriage; a third eye, the eye of inner vision or spiritual wisdom; or simply a decoration like jewelry. It is worn by Indians of all religions.  
  • biological gender/biological sex
    Avoid the terms “biological gender,” “biological sex,” “biological woman,” “biological female,” “biological man,” or “biological male.” These terms are inaccurate and often offensive. When necessary, you can refer to someone’s assigned sex at birth using terms like “assigned male at birth” or “assigned female at birth.” Think seriously about whether a story requires this information. Instead use: assigned male/female at birth, assigned sex at birth or raised as a boy/girl. Updated March 2021
  • biphobia
    Fear of bisexuals, often based on stereotypes, including inaccurate associations with infidelity, promiscuity, and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Intolerance or prejudice is usually a more accurate description of antipathy toward bisexual people. See bisexual.
  • BIPOC
    An acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous and people of color. The term is meant to unite all people of color while acknowledging that Black and Indigenous people face different and often more severe forms of racial oppression and cultural erasure as consequences of systemic white supremacy and colonialism. It is a noun and since it includes the word "people" it would be redundant to say "BIPOC people." It is pronounced "buy-pock" as opposed to saying each letter individually. BIPOC first came into use in the early 2010s but it became more prevalent in May 2020 during the protest movement against police brutality and institutional racism sparked by the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. While BIPOC is commonly used by activists, it is not universally embraced. Some consider it redundant. For more discussion of the term see "Where Did BIPOC Come From?" an article by Sandra E. Garcia, which ran in The New York Times on June 17, 2020, and The BIPOC Project,  an organization that "aims to build authentic and lasting solidarity among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), in order to undo Native invisibility, anti-Blackness, dismantle white supremacy and advance racial justice."
  • bipolar disorder
    Formerly known as manic depression, this mental illness is believed to be caused by a combination of genetic factors and neurological functioning, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. It is characterized by unusually intense shifts in emotion, energy, behavior and activity levels in what are called “mood episodes.” Such episodes are usually classified as manic, hypomanic, depressive or mixed episodes. Bipolar disorder often develops during late adolescence or early adulthood. Refer to someone as having bipolar disorder only if the information is central to the story and a licensed medical professional has formally diagnosed the person. Do not use bipolar as an adjective for something that rapidly or drastically changes.
  • biracial, multiracial, mixed-race, two or more races
    Biracial refers to people of two races; multiracial refers to people of two or more racial backgrounds. Preferred terms include multiracial, biracial, multiethnic, polyethnic. Use mixed and mixed-race with caution as some people find these terms offensive; however, others embrace them. Updated February 2021
  • birth defect
    See defect/birth defect.
  • bisexual, bi
    A person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of another gender. People may experience this attraction in differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual people need not have had specific sexual experiences to be bisexual; in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual.
  • Black Africa
    See Africa.
  • Black church
    Collective noun that refers to the more than 65,000 Christian churches that have a predominance of Black members and clerical leadership. The Black Church has served as a major institutional foundation in the Black community. It generally refers to Protestants, who themselves represent a variety of denominations and sects. It does not generally encompass Catholics, Muslims or others. In some cases the term b\Black churches may be more accurate, but also be mindful that many Black people worldwide belong to churches and to denominations that may not be predominantly Black. [According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, the Black Church “has been composed of seven major denominations.” They are the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the Church of God in Christ, the National Baptist Convention of America, the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.]  
  • Black Codes
    Statutes curtailing the rights of African Americans during the early years of Reconstruction and instituted by Southern legislative bodies in 1865 and 1866. Also known as Negro Codes, the statutes aimed to restore the political powers and economic structure of slavery by, for example, forbidding Black people from owning or renting farmland.
  • Black diaspora
    See African diaspora.
  • Black English, African American English
    See Ebonics.
  • Black leader
    Avoid using the term. It implies that one person is the spokesperson for all Black people. When referring to a local Black person in a leadership position, state the organization that he or she belongs to.
  • Black Lives Matter, #BlackLivesMatter
    A civil rights movement that started after the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. The Black Lives Matter movement, also written #BlackLivesMatter, was started as a Twitter hashtag by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi as "a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society," according to the Black Lives Matter website. It gained momentum in 2014 after several other young African-American men—Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.; Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY; Freddie Gray in Baltimore—were killed by police in cities around the country. According to its website, #BlackLivesMatter does not believe Black lives are more important than other lives. In fact, it says it stands with other oppressed peoples and views all lives as important. The campaign opposes police violence against Black people. While the group says all lives matter, not all lives face the same threats. According to Black Lives Matter, once Black people are free from oppression, the benefits will be wide reaching and transformative to society as a whole.
  • Black Muslim
    Black Muslim is a term that became associated with the Nation of Islam but is now considered derogatory and should be avoided. The preferred term is simply member of the Nation of Islam. Also, because of that association, do not use Black Muslim to describe African-Americans who practice traditional Islam, whose tenets differ markedly from the Nation’s. Instead, say African-American Muslims.
  • Black or African American, U.S. Census definition of
    The U.S. Census Bureau, which adheres to the 1997 Office of Management and Budget standards on race and ethnicity, defines Black or African American as "a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa." The Census Bureau notes: "The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups."  
  • Black Twitter
    A virtual community on the Twitter social network that focuses on issues of interest to the Black community, particularly in the United States. Black Twitter has been used as a tool for social activism, such as organizing protest rallies and boycotts.
  • black, Black
    See African American, African-American, black, Black.
  • blind/limited vision/low vision/partially sighted/visually impaired
    According to the American Foundation for the Blind, the term legally blind denotes a person with 20/200 visual acuity or less. Therefore, blind or legally blind is acceptable for people with almost complete vision loss. Many people with vision loss are not considered blind. The foundation recommends that unless the person refers to himself or herself as legally blind, the terms low vision, limited vision or visually impaired should be used. Use the term blind only when the person has complete loss of sight and the term legally blind when the person has almost complete loss of sight. Other terms also may be acceptable. It is best to ask the person which term he or she prefers and take that into consideration. Commonly used terms include: Limited vision: Acceptable when a person is not legally or completely blind Low vision: Acceptable when a person is not legally or completely blind Partially sighted: Used most often in British publications but acceptable if a person is not legally or completely blind Visually impaired: This general term describes a wide range of visual functions, from low vision to total blindness. It is generally considered acceptable, although, as with the term hearing impaired, some may object to it because it describes the condition in terms of a deficiency.
  • Bollywood
    The Indian movie industry’s equivalent of Hollywood. The name is a combination of Bombay, the city now called Mumbai, and Hollywood. It is a popular term for Hindi cinema and is a vast pop culture industry. It is the largest producer of movies in the world, ahead of Hollywood and France. Bollywood is not the only source of Indian cinema and movies are made in other languages, but Bollywood is the largest. Bollywood movies include several genres, but they are often musicals with singing and dancing.
  • Bombay
    See Mumbai.
  • boomer
    Describes a person who was born during the post-World War II baby boom between 1946 and 1964. Boomers and boomer generation are preferred over baby boomers, which is perceived as condescending. As it captures an entire and diversified generation of 76 million people, they should not be lumped together unless compared to other generations.
  • Boricua
    Puerto Rico was formerly known as Borikén, a self-governed island inhabited by the Taino people. The arrival of Spanish settlers during the 16th century decimated the Taino population and many were forced into assimilation. The term Boricua is a derivative of Borikén and connotes pride in Puerto Rican origins.
  • born-again
    Theologically, all Christians claim to be born-again through the saving work of Jesus Christ; they just disagree over how it occurs. Catholics and Orthodox, for instance, say it occurs in the sacrament of baptism, which frequently takes place when the baptized person is too young to recall it. Evangelical Protestants emphasize being born-again as a personal, transformational experience that involves a deliberate commitment to follow Christ. Because the term tends to associate someone with a particular religious tradition, do not label someone a born-again Christian. Let the person label themselves, as in, who calls herself a born-again Christian.
  • Borscht Belt
    An informal term for the summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York that primarily catered to Ashkenazic Jewish families in the mid-20th century. These resorts, now mostly closed or under new management, were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews between the 1920s and 1970s. The name, a play on the Bible Belt, came from borscht, a beet soup popular with Eastern European Jewish immigrants. This collection of bungalow colonies and hotels developed in part to accommodate Jewish families who were sometimes denied admission to other resorts because of antisemitism. Many Jewish comedians and performers got their start in the Borscht Belt. The 1987 movie "Dirty Dancing" immortalized Borscht Belt culture, which included lavish meals, afternoon dance lessons and evening entertainment.
  • Buddha
    Pronounced “BUD-dah” (first syllable “u” as in “put,” not a long “oo” sound). The Buddha, meaning “the awakened one,” refers to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. A Buddha is anyone who has attained enlightenment. There are human Buddhas of the past, present and future as well as celestial Buddhas who are venerated in some Buddhist schools for their ability to help those on the path to liberation.
  • Buddhism
    The fourth-largest organized religion in the world, Buddhism was founded in India sometime between the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, or the “awakened one.” Buddhism teaches that meditation and the practice of moral behavior (and, according to some schools, rituals) can lead to the elimination of personal craving and hence the release of suffering and the attainment of absolute peace (nirvana). This is gradually achieved through successive cycles of rebirth (although some schools say such liberation may be obtained as quickly as within one lifetime). Although Buddhism is frequently described as a nontheistic tradition since the historical Buddha did not claim to be divine and there is no concept of a divine absolute God — the vast and complex tradition of Buddhism includes an intricate cosmology of beneficent and wrathful deities as well as transcendent Buddhas and bodhisattvas who can be propitiated to help Buddhist practitioners on the path to enlightenment. There are three major forms or “vehicles” of Buddhism: Theravada, found in most of Southeast Asia, focuses on individual realization, with practices particularly directed to monastic life; Mahayana stresses the universality of Buddha-nature and the possibility of enlightenment for all beings. It developed into many variant schools in China, Japan and Korea; Vajrayana, or Tibetan Buddhism, is found in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. Vajrayana developed from the Mahayana tradition but is often considered separately as a third “vehicle.”
  • burkini
    A type of swimming suit that covers the arms, legs and hair and is worn by some Muslim women. Burkini is a mix of the words burqa and bikini. Some Muslim women choose to cover these parts of the body to demonstrate modesty and faith. In the summer of 2016, after a series of terrorist attacks on French communities, some towns in France banned women from wearing a burkini on public beaches or in the sea.
  • Burmese names
    Naming rules are complex. Names typically consist of two one-syllable names, but often with another word as an honorific, such as Daw for older women, Maa for younger women; and Naw, Saw, Maung and U (pronounced “oo” as in two) for men.
  • burqa
    A form of covering for women who are Muslims, most frequently found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is an all-enveloping outer garment with a net-covered opening for the eyes or face to allow the woman to see. See abaya, hijab and niqab.