Language matters: The vocabulary of racism in health care

Abstract

Race equality as a matter of governance has gained momentum in most Western countries and is reflected in race/ ethnicity data collection in administrative systems and the attention accorded to terminology by census agencies. However, the vocabulary of health care - both in its literature and the language of officialdom - has proved resistant to the use of this lexicon of acceptable terms, as exemplified by the portrayal of peoples as ‘Oriental’ and ‘Negro’. What makes such language racist is the historical legacy it carries - that is, its symbolic importance. Survey evidence shows that the majority of those so described find the terms offensive. Countries have dealt with these linguistic issues in a variety of ways, including the use of the legislature and action by library associations and professional bodies in the USA. In Britain it has fallen upon the judiciary and universities to prohibit such terms. Given the momentum currently being achieved by public authorities in their response to race equality legislation, it is now time for health care to purge its language of these epithets.