Bias: A highly personal and unreasoned distortion of judgment.
Differential Treatment: The application of a requirement or rule, written or unwritten, to one class of people and not to another.
Institutional Racism: A social system in which race is a major criterion of role assignment, role rewards, and political control; the result of which is a monopoly of political, economic, social, cultural, and psychological institutions and resources by the ruling elite. Invariably, a social system emerges which is oppressive to all minority groups.
Prejudice: A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
Protected Class: Each of the groups protected from discrimination under law; they include men and women on the basis of sex; minority groups on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin; veterans; people with disabilities; etc.
Stereotype: Exaggerated, conventional, usually formulaic conceptions, opinions, and/or beliefs associated with a unique category of people. This includes the attribution of identical characteristics to all people in a group, regardless of the actual variation of its group members.
