What is the accepted custom regarding capitalization when it comes to "White" and "Black" when referring to race, whether they are being used as nouns or adjectives?
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2See the useful historical overview by Ken Greenwald (which is unfortunately too detailed to summarize in this posting) of the various designations that have been used for black people down the years.– Erik KowalCommented May 30, 2014 at 4:46
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On a personal basis, I capitalise both. As English has no authoritative body of overseers, there are no rules, only guidance.– GreybeardCommented Feb 3, 2021 at 21:43
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4 Answers
According to CMS, when referring to racial categories, use whites or white people, blacks or black people, both of which are written in lower case.
Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, 8.39, p. 402.
However, according to APA, racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized: Black and White.
APA Publication Manual, 6th edition, 3.14, p. 75.
Therefore, follow the style guide used in whatever discipline or genre you are writing.
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As I understand it, this has been revised and CMS now recommends capitalizing both Black and White. cmosshoptalk.com/2020/06/22/…– Eike P.Commented Jul 6, 2021 at 17:23
Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. Therefore, use Black and White instead of black and white (the use of colors to refer to other human beings is currently considered pejorative and should not be used). Unparallel designations (e.g., African Americans and Whites; Asian Americans and Black Americans) should be avoided because one group is described by color while the other group is described by cultural heritage (American Psychological Association 2012).
APA. (2012) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
(Sixth edition). (p. 75) Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
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Quotes must use some form of quote format (this time I fixed it for you). Other than that, this is a very relevant answer.– Laurel ♦Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 19:47
Some news sources say they will capitalize "black", but not "white". Others capitalize both.
AP says it will capitalize Black but not white
Columbia Journalism Review, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, NBC News and Chicago Tribune are among the organizations that have recently said they would capitalize Black but have not done so for white.
“White doesn’t represent a shared culture and history in the way Black does,” The New York Times said on July 5 in explaining its decision.
CNN, Fox News and The San Diego Union-Tribune said they will give white the uppercase, noting it was consistent with Black, Asian, Latino and other ethnic groups. Fox cited NABJ’s advice.
CBS News said it would capitalize white, although not when referring to white supremacists, white nationalists or white privilege.
I personally think that the justification by the New York Times is absurd. If "white people" aren't a group, why are you even referring to it?
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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. Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 19:35
It is a style issue. The NYT started doing it and then it was a thing. However, capitalizing Black and White and Brown is poor grammar. Simply, we only capitalize proper nouns in English.
black, white, brown
African-American, Caucasian, Asian (among others)
"African American" is going out of style possibly because so many black people are not African. Haitians in particular are modestly offended by the term.
Style is one thing, but bad grammar is against my good sense. I'm keeping it black, white, brown - at least until Chicago makes the change. The 17th Edition did not make a change, and the 18th is probably still a few years away.
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Some style guides capitalize Black because they consider it a proper noun, as it represents a racial or ethnic group. Can you elaborate on why "Native American" is a properly capitalized proper noun, but "Black" is an improperly capitalized common noun? The argument at the end doesn't make much sense to me, as you suggest that this capitalization is non-grammatical, at least until your preferred style guide says otherwise, but style guides don't dictate grammar rules. Beyond that, capitalization isn't even a part of grammar - grammar arose long before written language was even invented. Commented Feb 3, 2021 at 20:43
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@NuclearHoagie Hey don't give ’em any funky ideas or pretty soon they really will demand that the grammar be changed, like by insisting that this capitalized color term be place right at the front of any string of adjectives, yielding Native tall women, Black old men, and Green great dragons. :)– tchrist ♦Commented Feb 4, 2021 at 2:19
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Style is style. The consideration of the nature of nouns and determining common versus proper is grammar. Or maybe I'm wrong.– Stu WCommented Feb 4, 2021 at 22:42
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Apparently, CMS has made the change? cmosshoptalk.com/2020/06/22/…– Eike P.Commented Jul 6, 2021 at 17:22
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Thank you. I'll be sure to write Yellow for my Southeast Asians. It sure is a lot closer to yellow than brown. And those with ichthiosis? Green people. Native Americans? Red people. It all makes sense now. Shivering people are Blue. I get it.– Stu WCommented Jul 8, 2021 at 2:05