Groups of people who have been assigned minority status (or are perceived this way) because they are
subject to forms of oppression. Examples of oppression include (but are not limited to): ableism, anti-
Semitism, cissexism (transphobia), classism, heterosexism (homophobia), islamophobia, racism (as is
frequently referred to in this report), and sexism. This minority status is not simply linked to numerical or
population numbers, but it comes from the power of a dominant group and results in limits or denial of
safety, legitimacy, dignity, freedom and/or belonging. Using ‘minoritised’, not ‘minority’ acknowledges that
this is a result of oppression, not a passive or natural state.
Minoritised:
This myth uses the stereotype that certain minority groups, particularly East Asians, are universally
successful and high-achieving, ignoring the diversity of experiences within these communities. Model
minority myths lead to some marginalised communities receiving less support, since they are assumed to
be flourishing. It is also used to divide minoritised communities and to destroy cross-identity solidarity. We
have noticed a distinct lack of visual representations on charity websites across East Asian communities.
The ‘model minority myth’:
Representing one or a few individuals from minoritised groups to create the illusion of wider racial diversity
without addressing deeper issues of inequality.
Tokenism:
• Representation describes how often people of the Global Majority appear. For example, how often we see
people who are racialised as Black or East Asian in a video.
• Portrayal describes the specific quality of the story being told about the people in the content. For
example, who gets to speak in the video, who is spoken about, whether they are portrayed with dignity
and respect, celebrated as experts or specialists or presented as passive recipients of help.
Representation versus portrayal:
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Please note that ‘E’ in the acronym can also stand for Equality.
EDI:
The practice of using an individual or group to achieve a purpose, without taking into account that
person’s identity, wants, needs and the impact of using them to achieve that purpose. In this report,
instrumentalisation most often refers to images of Global Majority communities or individuals who are
merely supporting the text, without having anything to do with what is being said, nor having any agency
within the photo. They appear incidental.
Instrumentalisation:
Race-bending:
This is a form of instrumentalisation in which an image of a Global Majority individual is used to accompany
an event that has actually happened to someone who is from another race. Race-bending commonly
shows up when an organisation mainly works with white or white-passing people, and chooses to use an
image of someone from a different race to tell the story, so as to look ‘diverse.’
The practice of controlling access to certain spaces, opportunities, or communities. Gate-keeping is a way
of excluding minoritised and marginalised groups, including people of colour.
Gate-keeping:
This refers to the phenomenon where only one individual from a marginalised community is permitted to
succeed in a dominant group, perpetuating tokenism and hampering meaningful anti-racism progress. It
takes its name from the phrase ‘there can only be one’, from the fictional Highlander universe.
‘Highlander myth':