Welcome to the second edition of Unity in Education: Addressing Discrimination Together. In this edition, our aim is to introduce different types of discrimination through educational resources and shed light on its implications across different communities. From the pervasive issues of basic discrimination to the nuances of antisemitism, racism, anti-immigrant bias, anti-LGBTQ bias, anti-Muslim bias, and ableism, we aim to foster understanding, empathy, and ultimately, meaningful change.

As a reminder, the first edition of our newsletter introduced the collective efforts between the Steamboat Springs School District and STAND to help further educate our community on discrimination. Upcoming editions of this newsletter will feature resources that help spark family conversations around discrimination and what to do if you are a witness to discrimination.

Discrimination
Unfair treatment of one person or group of people because of the person or group’s identity (e.g., race, gender, ability, religion, culture, etc.). Discrimination is an action that can come from prejudice.

Prejudice
Judging or having an idea about someone or a group of people before you actually know them. Prejudice is often directed toward people in a certain identity group (race, religion, gender, etc.).

Ableism: Prejudice and/or discrimination against people with mental and/or physical disabilities.

Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than,’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities.

Anti-Immigrant Bias: the marginalization and/or oppression of people who are of immigrant origin, transnational or outside the dominant national identity or culture.

Xenophobia and anti-immigrant extremism perpetuate the idea that immigrants, or people who are perceived to be “foreign” or “outsiders,” threaten America’s founding ideals and must be excluded from positions of power, citizenship, or even residence in the United States. Today’s xenophobic movement explicitly targets migrants and asylum seekers crossing the southern border and also seeks to further policies and violence against immigrant and non-white communities.

Anti-LGBTQ+ Bias: Prejudice and/or discrimination against people who are or who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+).

A central theme of anti-LGBTQ+ organizing and ideology is the opposition to LGBTQ+ rights or support of homophobia, heterosexism and/or cisnormativity often expressed through demonizing rhetoric and grounded in harmful pseudoscience that portrays LGBTQ+ people as threats to children, society and often public health. (Source: Southern Poverty Law Center)

Anti-Muslim bias is the marginalization and/or oppression of people who are Muslim based on the belief in stereotypes and myths about Muslim people, Islam and countries with predominantly Muslim populations.

Anti-Muslim bias is a form of religious bias and a form of racism. This means that in some communities, Muslim people face disadvantages or exclusion relative to people who are not Muslim because within the community there is a religion that is considered default or “correct.” In other cases, Muslim people are racialized (to attribute racial identities to a group in order to convey superiority or exclude) and viewed as outsiders, threats or assigned other stereotypical traits. (Source: Anti-Defamation League)

Antisemitism: The belief or behavior hostile toward Jews just because they are Jewish. It may take the form of religious teachings that proclaim the inferiority of Jews, for instance, or political efforts to isolate, oppress, or otherwise injure them. It may also include prejudiced or stereotyped views about Jews.

The term antisemitism was coined only in the nineteenth century, but anti-Jewish hatred and Judeophobia (fear of Jews) date back to ancient times and have a variety of causes.

The word antisemitism means prejudice against or hatred of Jews. The Holocaust, the state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945, is history’s most extreme example of antisemitism.

Racism: a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

Racism is the belief that people who belong to certain races are naturally inferior to others. Racism also includes discrimination, or unfair treatment against people and hatred of them because of their race. People who are racist often believe that their own race is naturally smarter, stronger, or otherwise better than other races. They associate skin color, hair texture, or other aspects of appearance with what they believe are inferior inherited traits. They believe such physical characteristics are linked to lower intellectual abilities or negative behavioral and personality traits. Racism includes racial prejudice—having a negative or hostile view of people simply because they are of a particular race. It is characterized by unjustifiable, stereotyped beliefs. (Source: Britannica Kids)