To B or Not to B
Attentive TWIR readers will notice that about a year ago, we started to capitalize the words "White" and "Black" in our posts. We're still not completely comfortable with the decision to do so, but the implications are potentially significant. We are interested in your feedback on this.Academic journals differ as to whether these shorthand racial classifications should be capitalized. There seems to be unanimous agreement that terms like "Caucasian" and "African American" should always be capitalized (though whether the latter should be hyphenated is another point of contention), but one can open a number of scholarly journals and books and see "White" and "Black" both capitalized and in lower case form. The style guide for the American Psychological Association (APA) -- which communication journals follow and upon which political science formal style [APSA style] is based -- requires capitalization. This is why we made the switch.
On the other hand, Carnegie Mellon University's style guide is clear that these words should not be capitalized. This is consistent with the guidelines of the Associated Press (AP), which drives decisions for most journalistic (as opposed to scholarly) publications.
In a 2000 issue of American Speech, Robert Wachal, professor emeritus of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Iowa, argues that "Black" should be capitalized, as should "White," because they are proper nouns, not color descriptors. Wachal says that failing to capitalize "Black" is "unintended racism" (what we would simply call "racism," since we divorce intent from the concept altogether, leaving terms like "prejudice" and "bigoted" for intention-relevant attitudes and behaviors). To make the issue even more complicated, DiversityInc provides interesting rationale for why "Black" should be capitalized but "white" should not be.
To further the conversation, it is important to consider this exchange about whether it is appropriate to capitalize "Indigenous."
A fundamental assumption of our work through the Race Project, including our weekly offerings here, is that language matters. Those who dismiss gender-neutral language or "politically correct" speech are unappreciative of the ways that language at once reflects and perpetuates power differences in culture. Using "member of Congress" instead of "Congressman," for instance, has real implications for the ability of women to be competitive for public office and to enjoy the respect that men have received "naturally." The critical race scholar bell hooks writes her name in all lower case letters, which reminds us of the arbitrary privilege that some members of society have as a result of their placement (akin to the arbitrary largeness of letters that just happen to come at the front of a word).
So what do you think? Should the terms "White" and "Black" be capitalized or not? In what ways might this matter?
Let us know!
Labels: African American names, AP style, APA style, black, captialization, grammar, racism, White
posted by The Project on Race in Political Communication @ 3/10/2009 11:34:00 AM
5 comments
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5 Comments:
I think, given the current capitalization of Caucasian and African American, that Black and White should also be capitalized, because they are nouns that are used in the exact same way.
Overall I don't think that any of it should be capitalized, including the words caucasian and african american. Capitalization, to me, seems to be a respect issue. All groups should be treated equally regardless of how they define themselves. Furthermore, an individual should receive utmost respect for all of their unique characteristics. Capitalizing the groups that they belong to, and not their other attributes sends the message that the only thing that matters is the racial group the person belongs to.
I think we need to either switch to capitalizing only proper names, or switch to the German system- in which all nouns are capitalized.
As a former journalist, I'm a fan of AP style and prefer lowercase for black and white.
Also, just wondering--Surely the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chose its title using language that was acceptable at the time. Now, colored is archaic, even offensive. Hasthe organization ever considered changing its name to keep up with the times? Should it?
As a personal thing and also as a white woman- I do not capitalize the "w" in white because I feel that there is too much unearned privilege and until that changes I am not comfortable capitalizing the "w" in white and only capitalize the "B" in Black.
:)
I began capitalizing both White and Black several years ago in my own work. As Nichole said, "Capitalization, to me, seems to be a respect issue."
Though they were originally simply color descriptors, as in, for example "white people," when used standing alone, the terms represent the entire group as if they are proper nouns. Though I concede that the terms may background other attributes members of each group have and foreground racial-ethnic identity for most people, many people do use the terms to identify themselves; hence, respect conveyed (at bare minimum) through capitalization seems only reasonable.
I made this decision after a conversation with a friend who is Black. He does not like the term "African American," as he considers it a government assignment that he finds offensive. He said, "I'm Black, and I'm proud to be Black." When he uses the term "Black," he's talking about far more than a color attribute. As a result, for me, the term no longer refers merely to color or to "race" and it no longer means that only race matters. Instead, it refers to a cultural group, one with many wonderful attributes, and it has become a proper name. Hence, I capitalize it.
Bonnie had an interesting point about _not_ capitalizing white as means of expressing her feelings about unearned privilege. I have been capitalizing both terms to express the equality that should exist. I wonder whether continuing any form of differentiation might simply perpetrate inequality, though, of course, one can argue that mere use of the terms to differentiate racial-ethnic groups continues inequality.
On the other hand, I think that many people prefer to be able to identify themselves in ways that separate them from the anonymous mass of "people." If we were to take the "no differentiation" argument to its extreme, we'd have to give up personal names! Further, the friend with whom I had the discussion about the relative merits of "Black" and "African American" said, "Viva la difference!"
However, to return to Bonnie's suggestion, while one might make that a personal choice, if someone will be publishing, conveying equal respect by using terms written at equal levels seems to have more potential to contribute to real equality, albeit in a small way, than continuing written forms of inequality might be able to accomplish. I have a feeling that true equality, whether racial-ethnic or gender or another form, is going to come about through the accumulation of many such small things in conjunction with a few big events thrown in periodically to keep us moving.
Considering Hispanic, which I know is an ethnic group, and Asian are capitalized so should black and white. Also, I consider an African-American someone who migrated to the Americas from African, be they Black or White, on their own free accord. To me a Black person is someone who can trace their roots directly to slavery. I know Africans who make it clear that they are not Black but African. Also, most Black people in the country who can trace their roots back to slavery are not pure African; therefore, to me, African-American and Black are not the same.
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