Page 14 - Anti-Racism Pocketbook for Schools and Academies

Due to her fearing that she would not be taken seriously if
she complained about these inappropriate jokes, Anne felt

forced out of her role within this school when she left.

The experiences that Anne described at her school

demonstrated how words/language can have a tremendous

impact on others. Whether it can be deemed as a joke or

banter to you or others, dehumanizing individuals, making
someone the butt of a joke, or being racially insensitive is

never acceptable in the workplace.

Appropriate language/terminology

In this writing, appropriate means that you are using
language that is suitable for everyone within the school

environment, including yourself, colleagues, and students.

Firstly, it is important to only use language that is appropriate
for yourself. Faking accents, terminology, and other offense

language outside of your ethnic background can cause

offense to many people.

An example of this would be using the term “Wagwan” (a

greeting for Jamaican patios speakers) to ethnic individuals

within the school environment if you are not Jamaican. This

might come off as banter or a joke, but it can be
misconstrued and made to seem offense.

Secondly, it is important to use language that is appropriate

for your audience. Using terms such as BAME or BME can be
offense acronyms to some ethnic minorities.

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