this morning the Dallas Morning News announced that they will refer to folks of color from here on as "Black" with a capital B. It falls in line with "Latino", and "Asian" and such in their view. See below:
Making ‘Black’ uppercase is a sign of respect
B eginning this week, The Dallas Morning News will capitalize Black as a racial description. The word black is already our preferred term; the change to uppercase recognizes Black people as a distinct cultural group and puts Black on equal footing with Latino and Native American .
A few factors drive changes in our stylebook, or guide to usage. One is the extent to which terms and spellings are adopted in the language. In recent days, many publications and organizations have embraced Black as their preferred term. They include The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times , the Chicago Tribune , McClatchy newspapers and the Columbia Journalism Review .
The tide of history is another factor. News organizations cannot and should not ignore powerful demands that America fully acknowledge Black people’s humanity. Capitalizing the word is a show of respect for their unique status and contributions.
Finally, our style guidelines generally adhere to the preferences of the people and institutions we write about. More and more, we see Black people referring to themselves in writing as Black rather than black , African American , or outdated terms from the past.
The word white , when referring to race, will remain lowercase in The News . That is because the term evokes skin color, not culture or ethnicity, and because capitalizing white is not common among white Americans and is a tactic often used by white supremacists.
No matter what style we use, The News will use racial identifiers only when they are relevant to a story.
Journalism style is ever-changing. We believe the moment is right for this change.
Twitter: @mWilstory
Making ‘Black’ uppercase is a sign of respect
B eginning this week, The Dallas Morning News will capitalize Black as a racial description. The word black is already our preferred term; the change to uppercase recognizes Black people as a distinct cultural group and puts Black on equal footing with Latino and Native American .
A few factors drive changes in our stylebook, or guide to usage. One is the extent to which terms and spellings are adopted in the language. In recent days, many publications and organizations have embraced Black as their preferred term. They include The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times , the Chicago Tribune , McClatchy newspapers and the Columbia Journalism Review .
The tide of history is another factor. News organizations cannot and should not ignore powerful demands that America fully acknowledge Black people’s humanity. Capitalizing the word is a show of respect for their unique status and contributions.
Finally, our style guidelines generally adhere to the preferences of the people and institutions we write about. More and more, we see Black people referring to themselves in writing as Black rather than black , African American , or outdated terms from the past.
The word white , when referring to race, will remain lowercase in The News . That is because the term evokes skin color, not culture or ethnicity, and because capitalizing white is not common among white Americans and is a tactic often used by white supremacists.
No matter what style we use, The News will use racial identifiers only when they are relevant to a story.
Journalism style is ever-changing. We believe the moment is right for this change.
Twitter: @mWilstory
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