Why we capitalize 'Black' (and not 'white')

Why we capitalize ‘Black’ (and not ‘white’) At the Columbia Journalism Review, we capitalize Black, and not white, when referring to groups in racial, ethnic, or cultural terms. For many people, Black reflects a shared sense of identity and community. White carries a different set of meanings; capitalizing the word in this context risks following the lead of white supremacists. In deciding on a styling, fusspot grammarians and addled copy editors generally fall back on a pair of considerations. The first is broad adherence to a general rule—like, say, the Chicago Manual of Style’s (§8.38) edict that “Names of ethnic and national groups are capitalized.” (Though Chicago still generally mandates lowercasing both black and white, it does include the proviso that the rule can be suspended if “a particular author or publisher prefers otherwise.”) The second thing we look for is attestation. In this case, it’s instructive to turn not to the largely lilywhite mainstream press (nor to the style guides that govern their renderings), but to writers of color…

The Case for Capitalizing the B in Black – The Atlantic

The Case for Capitalizing the ‘B’ in BlackBlack and white are both historically created racial identities—and whatever rule applies to one should apply to the other.The AtlanticShould the b in black, as a designation for people of African descent, be uppercase? Media outlets and other institutions are asking themselves that question these days, and many are answering in the affirmative. But the reasons given for why can sometimes be perplexing—in a way that reveals larger perplexities about the meaning of race.Everyone knows that black people aren’t literally black. Plenty of white Americans are darker in complexion—look at your olive-skinned friends of Mediterranean or Armenian extraction—than plenty of black Americans. If Kim Kardashian, the media personality and entrepreneur, counts as white while Maulana Karenga, the radical activist and creator of Kwanzaa, counts as black, it isn’t because he’s darker than she is. So the color term is a poor metonym for the group in question.And there’s…

Why We Capitalize 'Black' and Not 'White' | The Banner

Why We Capitalize ‘Black’ and Not ‘White’After we published my editorial, “God is Not Colorblind” (Feb 2021), a number of eagle-eyed readers noticed we capitalized “Black” in the racial sense as well as other races or ethnic groups (such as Asian, Indigenous, etc.), but we did not capitalize “white” in the same way. So I received a number of questions about that. Some think we have double standards or even some sort of reverse discrimination. The real reason, however, is a lot more innocuous. We were simply following the industry standard. Even before I started as editor, The Banner has followed the Associated Press Stylebook. The AP Stylebook, as it is known, is “the gold standard for newswriting” or “the bible for journalists” (from the back cover and the foreword of AP Stylebook’s 2015 printed edition). It has been the news industry’s best-selling reference for over 30 years and is updated annually. The Associated Press itself is the most trusted independent global news network….

AP says it will capitalize Black but not white | AP News

AP says it will capitalize Black but not whiteNEW YORK (AP) — After changing its usage rules last month to capitalize the word “Black” when used in the context of race and culture, The Associated Press on Monday said it would not do the same for “white.”The AP said white people in general have much less shared history and culture, and don’t have the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color.Protests following the death of George Floyd, which led to discussions of policing and Confederate symbols, also prompted many news organizations to examine their own practices and staffing. The Associated Press, whose Stylebook is widely influential in the industry, announced June 19 it would make Black uppercase.In some ways, the decision over “white” has been more ticklish. The National Association of Black Journalists and some Black scholars have said white should be capitalized, too. “We agree that white people’s skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore these problems,” John Daniszewski, the AP’s vice president for standards, said in a memo to staff Monday. “But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy…

Why is Black spelled with a capital 'B' and white lowercase?

Why is Black spelled with a capital ‘B’ and white lowercase? It’s divisiveHave you noticed that most mainstream media outlets capitalize the “B” in “Black” when writing about Black people? Have you noticed the “w” in “white” doesn’t receive the same treatment?It’s a well-intended but confusing practice that might be doing more harm than good.Decision came at the height of Black Lives MatterThe decision from the editors of The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, which sets the standard for the language of journalism, came at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.Ahmaud Arbery had been killed in February of that year. Breonna Taylor was killed in March. And George Floyd was killed in May.  The nation spasmed, with disaffected Black people and their allies from other races taking to the streets in what has been called the largest protest movement in world history.There’s no coincidence that it came during the peak of pandemic lockdowns and quarantines when there were no sports, no commutes and few obligations to distract people from the reality that was getting beamed into their televisions, computers and cellphones on a never-ending loop.By summer, race experts had emerged like…

Why We're Capitalizing Black – The New York Times

Why We’re Capitalizing BlackTimes InsiderThe Times has changed its style on the term’s usage to better reflect a shared cultural identity. Here’s what led to that decision.Credit…The New York TimesTimes Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.The last time The New York Times made a sweeping call to capitalize how it referred to people of African ancestry was nearly a century ago.W.E.B. Du Bois had started a letter-writing campaign asking publications, including The Times, to capitalize the N in Negro, a term long since eradicated from The Times’s pages. “The use of a small letter for the name of twelve million Americans and two hundred million human beings,” he once wrote, was “a personal insult.”The Times turned him down in 1926 before coming around in 1930, when the paper wrote that the new entry in its stylebook — its internal guide on grammar and usage — was “not merely a typographical change,” but “an act in recognition of racial self-respect.”Decades later, a monthlong internal discussion at The Times led the paper on Tuesday to make,…

AP says it will capitalize Black but not white

AP says it will capitalize Black but not white NEW YORK (AP) — After changing its usage rules last month to capitalize the word “Black” when used in the context of race and culture, The Associated Press on Monday said it would not do the same for “white.” The AP said white people in general have much less shared history and culture, and don’t have the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color. Protests following the death of George Floyd, which led to discussions of policing and Confederate symbols, also prompted many news organizations to examine their own practices and staffing. The Associated Press, whose Stylebook is widely influential in the industry, announced June 19 it would make Black uppercase. In some ways, the decision over “white” has been more ticklish. The National Association of Black Journalists and some Black scholars have said white should be capitalized, too. “We agree that white people’s skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices,…

Recognizing Race in Language: Why We Capitalize “Black …

Recognizing Race in Language: Why We Capitalize “Black” and “White” CSSP’s commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization requires our organization to be on a constant, ongoing racial equity journey—a continuous culture of learning, reflecting, and, when appropriate, an evolution in the way that we understand, think, and write about people and communities most marginalized by White supremacy and racist policies and institutions. Recognizing the importance of language, after research, reflection, and conversations with staff and thought partners, CSSP has decided to standardize the capitalization of the “B” in Black in our writing, when referring to people of African descent. At CSSP we understand that Black refers to not just a color but signifies a history and the racial identity of Black Americans. As writer and professor Lori L. Tharps argues, “Black with a capital B refers to people of the African diaspora. Lowercase black is simply a color.” Yet capitalizing “Black” is not universally accepted. In fact, it is common to see “Black” in lower case, even though other racial and ethnic groups like Asian, Latinx, and Native, are routinely capitalized. Additionally, major publications like The New York Times,…

Capitalizing Black and White: Grammatical Justice and Equity

Capitalizing Black and White: Grammatical Justice and Equity Share On Social Kristen Mack Vice President, Communications, Fellows, and Partnerships As the United States reckons with its history of systemic racism, MacArthur is engaging in an ongoing process of reevaluating our policies and practices to ensure we live up to our Just Imperative. As part of this effort, we have updated our style guide to capitalize Black, Brown, Indigenous, and White when referring to race and ethnicity. Language conveys values and has been used to uphold racist structures. Throughout U.S. history, many have attempted to systematically erase the ethnic identities of Black communities. Yet, Black culture has endured and flourished and continues to be a unique cultural identity today. We realize it is long past time to recognize it as such in the ways we write. Language itself is radical. It can be used to either support or challenge the systemic racism we seek to dismantle. Blackness with a lowercase ‘b’ is treated as an adjective, a word with no particular weight or…

A year after decision to capitalize 'Black,' shades of gray …

A year after decision to capitalize ‘Black,’ shades of gray remain for readers | The Angry GrammarianOne year later, George Floyd’s murderer is in jail, but we still can’t decide if he’s white or White.It was this week last July when the Associated Press, which leads journalistic style standards, decreed that white as an adjective would remain lowercase. This came a month after it decided that Black, when referring to people in a racial, ethnic, or cultural context, should be capitalized.But for once, not everyone followed the AP’s guidance. Now there’s wide inconsistency across publications, and readers are justifiably confused.With a handful of exceptions, most — including The Inquirer — have decided to capitalize Black. Even right-wing stalwarts Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, Newsmax, and One America News Network do so. (A few publications, most of them conservative, still lowercase black, including the New York Post, Washington Examiner, and National Review.) But on white, for which The Inquirer also abides…