5.6 Race and ethnicity

Identifying both race and / or ethnicity can be important in understanding an individual’s cultural location and experiences. We opt to include racial and ethnic information when possible and relevant. It is important that archivists treat race and ethnicity as two distinct categories and are sensitive to how both categories are used by the individual. As with any aspect of identity, this might also change over time.

Race is a social construct that categorizes people based on physical traits, like skin colour, and is used to establish power over communities through legal, institutional, and societal means; its construction is hierarchical in origin and there is no biological basis for racial classification.

Ethnicity is an aspect of identity that is multi-dimensional and centered on culture, language, group membership, belonging, and customs. Similar to race, it is socially constructed and is based on the individual’s own identification.

In the past, UTARMS archivists inconsistently included information about the ethnic identity of record creators in the biographical history field. No racial information about creators was recorded. As of January 2024, we now include racial and / or ethnic information when provided to us through the donor survey. To determine identity, we favour self-identification above all else and follow the exact terminology provided to us. When this is not available from the individual directly or donor (depending on the context), archivists may also rely on other sources such as family (biological or chosen), public records, secondary sources, and contextual information in the collection materials. These sources should be cited and attention should be paid to sources used and potential power dynamic between who is defining who.

Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after September 2022 are an indication of insufficient information to comfortably provide this or an individual’s preference for identity information to be excluded from description. Respecting the preferences of individuals can of course include omitting racial and /or ethnic information. While valuing the choice not to include racial information, UTARMS will, in some instances, prioritize the naming of whiteness in our descriptions. When applicable, we use “white” as a racial identity so that whiteness is no longer the presumed default of individuals represented in our collections. Please see Section 6 for additional details. We also add description of ethnic and / or racial identities to groups and organizations if identity is currently or historically relevant to the group.

  • When describing photographs, there are situations where it is important to include the race of individuals in the photograph, even when this is a visual guess. In these scenarios, UTARMS has prioritized the surfacing of these individuals over the risk of getting it wrong. Guess responsibly by providing information about how or why you are making this presumption. Use wording such as “more than likely, given…”, “appears to be, based on…”, or more general terms (e.g. minoritized) if you are describing unidentified individuals or making an presumption about race.

For example:

Group photograph of attendees at the 1924 International Congress of Mathematicians held in Toronto. Names unknown; appears to include twenty white men, two white women, and one Black man based on the archivist’s assessment of skin colour and dress.

  • Racial information should be provided when it supports improved discoverability for minoritized groups. If a collection is not described to the item level, add a note at the fonds or series level. This information is included to improve discoverability for researchers.”

  • Names of ethnic, racial, and national groups are capitalized. E.g., Black, Indigenous, Asian (South Asian, East Asian, South East Asian) or other identities.1 However, an exception sometimes exists when referring to whiteness as a racial category, and some debate is ongoing about this exception. For the time being, the term white is not capitalized in UTARMS’ archival descriptions.2

  • Ethnic identity can be complex and must be researched. E.g., the distinction between Pashtun and Pathan highlights the complexity of ethnic identities and the ways in which historical, geographical, linguistic, and cultural factors intersect to shape identity formation and expression.3

  • Do not use adjectives as nouns: e.g. “There is an Italian community in the West End” vs. “the Italians live in the West End”

  • Consider the potential for a racist origin of any terms used (e.g. grandfathered, blacklisted) and avoid4.

  • Consider who is using a specific term and how? With this context, is the term offensive or being re-claimed strategically by the affected individual or community? If so, note this type of use in the description.

  • Take care to be as specific as possible to avoid conflating the experiences of a large group of diverse people. For example, if referring to Black individuals, use the term Black as opposed to one of the collective terms such as BIPOC. If an individual identifies with more than one race or ethnicity, ensure you know which terms they would like to use and in which order they would like them placed (e.g., “A Black and Indigenous author”.)

  • Consider if and how a term might centre white experiences and express a form of othering. For example, terms such as non-white or disenfranchised.

Below are some examples of general language suggestions. As there is ongoing debate and shifts in terminology it is important to consider a specific term’s appropriateness in context and favour terms identified by the individual / group themselves. Research the nuance of term used if no direct guidance is given on terminology.5

Instead of… Consider…
Visible minority, minority(ies), non-white Racialized, minoritized, BIPOC, IBPOC 6
Equity-seeking groups, historically excluded groups Historically, persistently, or systemically marginalized

Additional resource:

Rachele Kanigel. “The Diversity Style Guide.” https://www.diversitystyleguide.com/.

Endnotes

  1. Section 8.38, The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition text, https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec038.html ↩

  2. See the Diversity Style Guide, the National Association of Black Journalists Statement of Capitalization, and the Centre for the Study of Social Policy’s article Recognizing Race in Language: Why Capitalize “Black” and “White” for background on these discussions. ↩

  3. See a more complete description of the regional and cultural distinctions between Pashtun and Pathan in Tilak Devasher’s article “The Pashtuns: Understanding History and Culture.” Defence and Diplomacy Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2023, pp. 15-27 ↩

  4. University of Arizona University Libraries Antiracist Language Guide includes a list of terms with racist origins: https://lib.arizona.edu/employees/anti-racist-guide ↩

  5. The suggestions provided in this guide each carry shifting meanings in context. For example, avoid using the terms BIPOC or IBPOC, unless you are referring to people of colour collectively and wanting to highlight Black and Indigenous oppressions. For singular uses, use the adjectives minoritized or racialized. Similarly, depending on its use, the term racialized can have an unintended effect of ignoring whiteness as a racial category, in which minoritized may be a more appropriate term. ↩

  6. Avoid using the terms BIPOC or IBPOC, unless you are referring to people of colour collectively and wanting to highlight Black and Indigenous oppressions. For singular uses, use the adjectives minoritized or racialized. ↩