Rethinking Racialized Language: Decolonizing the Term “Whitepaper”

Background: The term “whitepaper” is used by a range of professionals to describe material made available through non-traditional publishing. Using critical race theory, we investigated whether continued usage is racially insensitive and can be perceived as a microaggression by Indigenous and racialized peoples. Analysis: A focus group gathered participants’ personal and professional views on the term, related issues of colonization and racialized language, and building a new inclusive naming policy. Conclusion and Implications: “Whitepaper” is a problematic term because it is meant to connote authority. Group consensus was to determine a new inclusive, non-racialized term taking into consideration historical context and use.