Stylebooks are clashing over whether to uppercase certain racial descriptors
and whether to even use other terms. While The Associated Press capitalizes
Black when referring to people, it calls for avoiding the term brown as a
descriptor unless used in quotes and has kept the term white lowercase.
Meanwhile, other stylebooks (including those from the American medical and
psychological associations as well as Chicago style) provide guidance that
conflicts with the AP. In addition, the National Association of Black Journalists
as well as multiple leading news outlets have deviated from AP's
guidance. Using empirical tests of articles, this study found that publishers
strongly aligned with stylebooks for academic and news professionals. And a
review of exonyms and previous clashes shows how power and
institutionalism can influence style.
Key words: racial, stylebooks, uppercase, lowercase, naming, AP Style, APA Style, Chicago style
|
