Question for the Americans in this forum: I'm currently reading a book by the (liberal) American author Yascha Mounk about identity politics, and when he talks about race, he writes "white" with a lowercase "w", but "Black" with a capital "B".
I could understand if you always capitalize racial terms in English, as you do for nationalities (French cooking, German philosophy...), to distinguish them from the colors black and white, but like this? Where's the logic here?
Can anyone tell me the reason for this strange practice?
1
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
1 comment
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Lower-case “b” refers primarily to the color, whereas upper-case “B” encompasses the whole person, including culture. This is a nuance that has come about since the murder of George Floyd to demonstrate to the Black community that we see them and they matter.
Apunzelle
Level 7
Nov 18, 2023
2
In the case of the "white" person, it's not about the color either (for example, I am "white" but my skin isn't).
If progressives use the capital "B" - does that imply that "Black" matters more than "white" ? Because if somebody wrote "White" and "black", everybody would immediately identify him - rightly - as a white supremacist, right?
@Thibaud70 You can argue that if you care to, but (1) I was simply answering his question about why Americans have changed “black” to “Black” … and (2) I shouldn’t have to explain the injustices that have happened to Black people at the hands of whites for hundreds of years. I’m not gonna cry “unfair” about something as trivial as this. If it makes them feel seen and important, I’m all for it.
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.