In his book, ‘Black Rednecks and White Liberals’, Thomas Sowell addresses the notion of group identity and conformity within the ‘black community’. He argues that intellectuals in the 1960s perpetuated the idea that only those blacks who exhibited a culture associated with the ghetto or ‘black redneck culture’ were considered ‘authentic’. This caused controversy between Irving Howe and Ralph Ellison, with Howe criticising black writers like Ellison for not being ‘militant’ enough. According to Sowell, this notion that the ghetto black was the only ‘authentic’ black, not only spread among both white and black intellectuals but also had far-reaching social consequences.

Sowell states that rooting black identity in a counter-productive culture reduced incentives for individuals to move beyond it and cut them off from other successful blacks who could have been valuable sources of knowledge and experience. This led to pressure for more successful blacks to conform to the narrow ghetto view of the world, including using ghetto language, to prove their ‘identity’ with their own race. This became particularly acute for young blacks in schools and colleges, leading to a perpetuation of counterproductive attitudes towards education. The irony, according to Sowell, is that those who make accusations of ‘acting white’ are themselves perpetuating a redneck culture that echoes the violence, arrogance, and self-dramatisation of white redneck culture. Sowell warns that the post-1960s black identity intolerance promoted by white intellectuals and black leaders and activists may lead to disastrous consequences, similar to those experienced by the South during the antebellum era.

In June 2020, The Associated Press (AP) updated its writing style guide by capitalising the letter ‘b’ in the term ‘Black’ when referring to people in a racial, ethnic, or cultural context. John Daniszewski, the AP’s Vice President of Standards, stated that the change conveys ‘an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black.’ He also mentioned that the change aligns with other long-standing identifiers such as Latino, Asian American, and Native American. The news organisation will now also capitalise ‘Indigenous’ in reference to the original inhabitants of a place.

The recent debate over the capitalisation of ‘black’ accelerated in many U.S. newsrooms due to the events following the death of George Floyd and nationwide protests. The AP Stylebook is highly influential in the industry, with many news organisations, and government and public relations agencies using it as a guide. The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and NBC News have also embraced capitalisation, and the National Association of Black Journalists has urged other news organisations to follow.

The AP stated that it would make a decision within a month on whether to capitalise the term white, taking into consideration what that change might mean outside the U.S. The Seattle Times and Boston Globe both changed their practices to capitalise ‘black’ the year before, citing that the word has evolved to signify a race and culture and deserves the uppercase treatment as other ethnic terms do.

As expected, in July 2020, The AP announced that it would not capitalise the word ‘white’ in its news articles, following its decision last month to capitalise ‘black’ in the context of race and culture. The AP said that “white people, in general, have much less shared history and culture, and don’t have the experience of being discriminated against because of skin colour.” John Daniszewski, the AP’s Vice President for Standards, said in a memo to staff that capitalising the term ‘white,’ as is done by white supremacists, risks “subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs.”

Other news organisations at the time made similar decisions, with The New York Times explaining that “white doesn’t represent a shared culture and history in the way Black does.” CNN, Fox News, and The San Diego Union-Tribune have said they will capitalise ‘white’ while CBS News will do so, but not when referring to white supremacists, white nationalists, or white privilege. However, some experts believe that keeping ‘white’ lowercase perpetuates the idea that whites are the default race and that capitalising it would take power away from racists. Danissewski said that the AP would “closely watch how usage and thought evolves, and will periodically review our decision.”

It is evident that the words ‘black’ and ‘white’ have transcended their original role as mere descriptors and have taken on a much deeper meaning as ideological container words. It is crucial to delve deeper and understand the underlying messages conveyed through specific stylistic choices, as influenced by often misunderstood style guides.

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