Forbidden Word: BIPOC

BIPOC abbreviation: Black, Indigenous, and people of color: used especially in the U.S. to mean Black people, Indigenous American people, and other people who do not consider themselves to be White: She acknowledges the lifelong impact of racism that BIPOC face. My goal this year is to read more books written by BIPOC authors.

from — BIPOC. (2025). In Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary.

The term “BIPOC” is more descriptive than people of color or POC. It acknowledges that people of color face varying types of discrimination and prejudice. Additionally, it emphasizes that systemic racism continues to oppress, invalidate, and deeply affect the lives of Black and Indigenous people in ways other people of color may not necessarily experience. Lastly and significantly, Black and Indigenous individuals and communities still bear the impact of slavery and genocide.

BIPOC aims to bring to center stage the specific violence, cultural erasure, and discrimination experienced by Black and Indigenous people. It reinforces the fact that not all people of color have the same experience, particularly when it comes to legislation and systemic oppression.

from — Why we use BIPOC. (2024, March 12). YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish.

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black adj. 1 a black cat crossed our path: coal-black, jet, raven, ebony, sable, inky, swarthy. 2 It was a cold black night: dark, murky, lightless, stygian, sunless, moonless, unilluminated, unlighted. 3 Often Black. Jackie Robinson was the first black major league baseball player: negro, colored, dark-skinned. 4 Cynics have a black outlook on the state of the world: gloomy, grim, dismal, sombre, dim, calamitous. 5 The bus driver stopped short and gave the pedestrian a black look: sullen, hostile, dark, furious, angry, threatening. 6 The villian had a black heart:  evil, wicked, bad, nefarious.
—n. 7 Black is the most somber color: ebony, jet, raven, sable. 8 Often Black. Martin Luther King was the first American Black to win the Nobel prize:  Negro, Afro-American, black man, colored man, man of color.
Ant. 1 white, snow-white, chalky, whitish. 2  bright, white, sunny, moonlit, illuminated, lighted, well-lighted, lit. 3  white, Caucasian.  4 optimistic, bright, happy gay. 5 friendly, amiable, amicable, congenial, warm, pleased. 6 good, virtuous, wholesome, righteous, moral, honorable, upright, exemplary, pure. 7 white 8 white, white man, Caucasian.

from – Family Word Finder: Reader’s Digest. The Reader’s Digest Association, 1975.

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indigenous adj. Cotton is indigenous to the Southern United States: native, growing naturally, aborignal, originating in, characteristic of, endemic, homebred, homegrown, autochthonous.
Ant. naturalized; exotic; foreign, alien, extraneous, imported.

from – Family Word Finder: Reader’s Digest. The Reader’s Digest Association, 1975.

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person of color n. 1 : a person whose skin pigmentation is other than and especially darker than what is considered characteristic of people typically defined as white. 2: a person who is of a race other than white or who is of mixed race.

First known use: 1778

“Person of color.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/person%20of%20color. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.

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example sentences: BIPOC

YWCA is dedicated to ensuring women in our community, especially BIPOC women, have the opportunity to build a safe, healthy, and stable life of their choosing.
— YWCA

The impacts of historic injustice have continually pushed BIPOC communities further from opportunity, creating barriers to their success, safety, and well-being.
— YWCA

We must work together to tackle the economic, housing, and health injustices that make it harder for women, particularly BIPOC women, to thrive and lead.
— YWCA

There is frustration that the term BIPOC lumps together many groups that face very different issues.
— Cambridge Dictionary

We offer a vision of solidarity rooted in the relationships between BIPOC.
— Cambridge Dictionary

It’s often appropriate to be more specific and say, for example, “Black students” rather than “BIPOC students.”
— Cambridge Dictionary

They discussed the need to address vaccine hesitancy in BIPOC communities.
— Cambridge Dictionary

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April 9, 2025
Hudson Valley, New York

image: dweller between the waters detail © Holly Troy 2025

This is one word you can’t say in the new Trump Administration. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.