July Diversity Word of the Month
By Emily Sugiyama
The Word of the Month feature represents a collaboration between DiversityCentral.com and Intercultural Press, Inc. Each month, we feature a word, term or phrase related to diversity or other aspects of culture selected from sources published by Intercultural Press.
In Wimmin, Wimps and Wallflowers, An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Gender and Sexual Orientation Bias in the United States, the terms "heterosexism" and "heterocentrism" are defined as:
Xenophobia
In The Color of Words, An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States, the term "xenophobia" is defined as:
"From the Greek word meaning 'fear of strangers,' the fear or hatred of anything that is foreign or outside of one's own group, nation or culture. Xenophobia is an overt form of prejudice and ethnocentrism that may contribute to feelings of nationalism. It confirms the views of some of those who would exclude others, restrict immigration, or—in those cases when abstaining from engaging in international relations is done out of loathing or devaluation of outsiders—take an isolationist stand in foreign policy."
Source: Herbst, Philip H. The Color of Words, An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States. Yarmouth: Intercultural Press, Inc., 2001.
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