As coverage of racial issues has spiked since the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020, journalists and even regular people in their social media posts or emails are paying attention to when to capitalize words that identify people such as “Black", “Indigenous” and “white.”
On June 19, 2020, the Associated Press announced via blog post from John Daniszewski, the AP’s Vice President of Standards, that its style would be to capitalize the “B” in Black, as well the “I” in Indigenous. Conversations about these terms, and all language, are always being considered, and Daniszewski confirmed: “We continue to discuss other terms, including minorities and people of color, as well as the term ‘Black, Indigenous and people of color.’”
To make the distinction clear, Daniszewski emphasized: “AP’s style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. The lowercase black is a color, not a person.”
Journalism Professionals And National Association of Black Journalists Have Long Asked For This Change
Former president of National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Sarah Glover, said in a second open letter to the AP published June 11, 2020 (her first was published in August, 2019) that she is aware of others before her who have asked for this change: “I’m not the first to propose this change. I’ve read multiple published opinions on the topic over the past decade in particular. I first asked AP editors to consider the change last August.”
In an interview with PublicIntegrity.org, Glover expanded upon why the change contributes to racism: “George Floyd’s tragic and untimely death by a Minneapolis police officer brought to the surface of the American psyche the horrors of institutionalized racism. The case made to capitalize the “B” in Black is about dismantling assigned identity in language by those in power in the media (often white people) and affirming a particular community and how it defines itself. Use of the capital “B” in news reporting style in some ways mirrors the systemic inequality so many everyday citizens are working to eradicate.
”Ironically, journalists will find themselves covering these protests. Yet the media industry must do more than simply cover the protest, it must reckon with and change itself, too. The media industry must dismantle its own biases. The complex history of race in society shows up in how journalism publications assign meaning with words and coverage. Unpacking this is as relevant as the coverage of the pandemic.”
In the AP’s elaborated announcement on its blog, they explored the capitalization of the “N” in Negro: “Nearly a century ago, sociologist W.E.B. DuBois (wow, please read this) waged a letter-writing campaign to get newspapers to capitalize Negro, saying a lowercase “n” was a sign of disrespect and racism. The New York Times took his advice in 1930, calling it an act of recognition and respect for those who’d spent generations in ‘the lower case.’ Negro fell out of fashion with the Black Power movement of the 1960s, coming to symbolize subservience. African American was often used, but is not always accurate — some Black people don’t trace their lineage to Africa.”
News Outlets Who Already Made The Change
Glover pointed out that prior to the AP’s official change, some news outlets had already made the decision to capitalize the “B” in Black when referring to a person, including NBC Owned Television Stations (Glover is currently an executive with NBC), The Seattle Times in 2019, and The Daily Orange, a student-run newspaper at Syracuse University. Glover pointed out that some Black run media had already been capitalizing the “B” in Black, and the Washington Post identified a few as Essence, Ebony and the Chicago Defender.
Since the AP’s announcement, more news media groups adopted the policy, including the USA Today and its affiliated network of more than 260 local papers, The Los Angeles Times, NBC News, MSNBC, BuzzFeed and the McClatchy newspaper chain. The Washington Post itself was still considering as of the time of that article.
The “w” In White
Meanwhile, the AP has declared that for now, the “w” in white will remain lowercase, even when referring to a type of person, not a color of paint. Says the AP: “AP style will continue to lowercase the term white in racial, ethnic and cultural senses.”
The AP went on to explain their thought process, which they concluded, is ever evolving: “After a review and period of consultation, we found, at this time, less support for capitalizing white. White people generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color. In addition, AP is a global news organization and there is considerable disagreement, ambiguity and confusion about whom the term includes in much of the world.
”We agree that white people’s skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore those problems. But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs.”
Glover feels that this decision to capitalize the “B” in Black is separate from the treatment of “w” in white. She told Publicintegrity.org: “The case for capitalizing the “B” in Black is a separate discussion from capitalizing the “w” in white. The mistake some news organizations or arbiters of this issue made was connecting the two and suggesting that the decisions for the “B” and “w” were binary, meaning they were directly related to each other. There are two separate discussions to be had.
”The case for the capital “B” is focused on affirming a group of citizens of the world. African descendants living in America often have no defined ethnic lineage to a specific country or countries. Like the many African Americans who may have no known genetic link to a particular country due to the history of slavery, the capital “B” serves as an inclusive identity that notes a shared experience, race and ethnicity. Conversely, a known heritage is a more common reality for many white people, Asians, Hispanics and Latinos. As they may be more likely to know their country of origin, if relevant to a story, the media would likely publish that cultural or ethnic background. It is for those reasons, albeit not limited to, that the case for capitalizing the “B” in Black was made.”
What To Do With This Information
Aside from writing it correctly - and knowing why - in your social media posts, pitches to the media, emails to friends and colleagues, you might also be wondering how to handle yourself or your business in this racial revolution.
If you are unsure about how to talk about racial issues or the treatment of Black people right now, Tin Shingle can be a soundboard for your needs. Tin Shingle is an idea center for business owners, artists, makers and community organizers who are trying to get the word out. Consider membership so that we can begin discussing your needs in our Community Forum.