The Washington Post announced style changes Wednesday to capitalize on black and white, saying they denote distinct cultural identities.
The announcement comes after The Associated Press recently said it would capitalize on blacks, but not whites, by updating its style guide. AP said at the time that it was weighing whether to capitalize on the target.
“Starting right away, The Washington Post will capitalize the B in black to identify the many groups that make up the African diaspora in the United States and elsewhere,” the Post’s public relations department announcement read.
“Race-related stories show that White also represents a distinct cultural identity in the United States,” he added, noting the historic mass migration of white Europeans who were initially targeted for racial and ethnic discrimination.
“These various ethnicities eventually assimilated into the collective group that has had its own cultural and historical impact on the nation,” added the Post. As such, White must be represented with a capital W. “
The Post also said it will also use “other racial and ethnic identifiers,” including American Indians, Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, indigenous or Aboriginal people, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.
Various publications have begun to capitalize on Black, including The Wall Street Journal, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and The Hill.
The changes come after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has since sparked mass protests against racial injustice across the country.
The Post said it made its decision after extensive consultation.
“This decision comes after extensive discussions with members of our own news organization, consultations with editors in other newsrooms across the country, and evaluations of commentary and analysis by numerous opinion leaders and influential organizations in the black community.” said the Post.
.
