BIPOC

BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black Peoples, Indigenous Peoples, People(s) of Colour.

The term is meant to unite all people of color while acknowledging that Black and Indigenous people face different and often more severe can forms of racial oppression and cultural erasure as consequences of systemic white supremacy and colonialism.

Several variations of this acronym are also sometimes used.

  • BI&POC: The ampersand be included to encourage us to read out the full term in order to help mitigate against depersonalizing the BI&POC experience.
  • IBPOC: Indigenous Peoples, Black Peoples, and Peoples of Colour. This order is often used to recognize the presence of Indigenous Peoples in a place prior to occupation by non-Indigenous Peoples. 
  • BIMPOC: Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, People(s) of Colour.
  • QTIBIPOC: Queer, Trans, and Intersex, Black, Indigenous, People(s) of Colour.
  • QTIBIMPOC: Queer, Trans, and Intersex, Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, People(s) of Colour.

Several of these variations make the intersections of identities clear (See glossary description for the term intersectionality).

It should be further noted that identity labelling is complex and often contested. The acronym BIPOC (and its variations) has been challenged for its tendency to collapse the unique experiences of Indigenous Peoples, Black Peoples, and Peoples of Colour. Recalling that specificity is a core principle of inclusive writing, it is preferable to write specifically and directly about the experiences of particular people or groups of people, rather than trying to generalize across a wide swath of experiences. 

References: