Key Terms on Racism and Freedom

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Antiracist (adjective)

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Acting and believing that racial groups are equals; actively fighting against racism. Example: Frederick Douglass and his allies fought against slavery by escaping and helping hundreds of other enslaved Black people escape to freedom. He also published a newspaper in Rochester, NY that spoke out against enslavement.

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Racist (adjective)

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Believing or acting as if one racial group is superior to another. Example: Nathaniel Rochester enslaved Black people. He forced them to work for no pay and bought and sold them to make money.

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Racist Policy (noun)

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Any rule or law that creates or keeps inequity between racial groups. Example: In 1702, the Province of New York’s Assembly passed a law that kept enslavement legal, banned enslaved people from meeting in groups of 3 or more, and allowed enslavers to punish enslaved people as they saw fit.

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Freedom Seeker (noun)

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African Americans who bravely risked their lives to escape from enslavement. Example: Thomas James escaped from enslavement in New York by running away to freedom in Canada.

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Underground Railroad (noun)

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A network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North. It was not an actual underground train. Example: AME Zion Church in Rochester was a station on the Underground Railroad.

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Ally (noun)

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Someone who stands with or advocates for individuals and groups other than their own. Example: Amy and Isaac Post were white allies who ran a station on the underground railroad in Rochester NY. (Hochstein School of Music is where their home once stood).