Believe It or Not, White People Have History and Culture, Too
MINOT, N.D. — Recently, the Associated Press updated its style guide, an influential publication used by journalists across the industry, to state that the word “black,” when used to describe a person, should be capitalized.
The change was intended to reflect “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,” according to the AP’s VP of standards John Daniszewski. “The lowercase black is a color, not a person.”
Seems reasonable to me. We already capitalize Hispanic and Asian and Native American, so why not Black?
My company has adopted this style change as well, so when you’re reading my columns, you’ll see the change.
But what about white, when used to describe people? Shouldn’t that be capitalized, too?
