Should I Capitalize "Black"? How About "White"?

White content creators and business owners: Let's talk about capitalization and the importance of language in centering BIPOC voices. If we're writing about race, should we write “Black” and “White”? Or should it be “black” and “white”? Or “Black” and “white”? Literary and journalistic norms, formalized in places such as the AP style guide, have long indicated lowercase for both. (UPDATE: as of June 19, 2020, the AP changed its writing style to capitalize the “b” in Black and the “i” in Indigenous.)

BLACK

In a piece published on their website in March, "Recognizing Race in Language: Why We Capitalize 'Black' and 'White,'" the Center for the Study of Social Policy* says they use "Black" to refer to people of African descent because "we understand that Black refers to not just a color but signifies a history and the racial identity of Black Americans" adding that "other racial groups like Asian American, Latinx, and Native, are routinely capitalized."

They also note that mainstream publications have set the standard of using a lowercase b even though established Black publications such as Ebony and Essence capitalize it. Why, they’re asking, shouldn't we follow the lead of BIPOC?

In 2014, writer Lori L. Tharpes argued for a capital B in her opinion piece in The New York Times even though, as she adeptly points out, that ground had already been thoroughly covered.

"Ironically," she writes, "The Associated Press also decrees that the proper names of 'nationalities, peoples, races, tribes' should be capitalized. What are Black people, then?"

It seems obvious that Black should be capitalized.

WHITE

"White" is thornier because many avowed anti-Black groups use a capital W intentionally, as a propaganda tool to make a case for racial dominance.

Even so, the Center settled on using a capital W, noting among other things that using “White” as a proper noun demands accountability. "To not name 'White' as a race is, in fact, an anti-Black act which frames Whiteness as both neutral and the standard."

That’s pretty convincing. But the Black activists I follow almost always use a lowercase w. It’s hard to argue that it’s best to follow the lead of a nonprofit organization or a publication instead of BIPOC on the front lines of activism and resistance.

I’ve asked myself if using “White” is a way for us to elbow our way into an “equal” place. (Read: centering our own racial identity.) Is a capital W the “All Lives Matter” of grammar? If we use “White” are we amplifying our racial identity in order to, once again, dismiss and harm Black people? Or does “White” send the message that one racial identity should no longer be allowed to visually represent a neutral standard?

The staff at Conscious Company Media** went back and forth in their internal debates about the issue, too:

“One view was that the typographical inequality between Black and white was glaring and potentially represented treating white people as exceptional. Another [copy editor] posed the question, ‘Isn’t the exception the point here; that achieving equality takes a little extra given by the privileged until things are more equal?’”

The desire to avoid exceptionalism won out: they decided to capitalize both “Black” and “White.”

In this moment, the weaponizing of White neutrality tips the scales for me, too. Whiteness is not an ideal from which other racial identities stray. White is not the invisible status quo that a lowercase w upholds. Proper nouns are capitalized in English in order to clarify them on the page. It’s a practice of specificity. The insidious thing about using a lowercase w is that it generalizes Whiteness, mirroring systemic racism itself. Re-assigning White as a proper noun helps us push back by drawing a bright line.

I expect my thinking about this to evolve and I’m open to correction. I also welcome questions and dialogue. What do you think?

P.S. In case you’re wondering, “Caucasian” is completely off the table. It has—you guessed it—racist roots. Read about it here and here.

*The Center for the Study of Social Policy appears to be run by a mix of POC and White leadership, staff, and fellows.

**Conscious Company Media appears to be run by a small White staff. There’s no indication that they have an advisory board and they did not indicate the racial identities of their copy editors.

Note: For reference, I’m listing links to the resources I cite here in my post on anti-racism resources.