AP style will continue to lowercase the term white in racial, ethnic and cultural senses. (1/8)
This decision follows our move last month to capitalize Black in such uses. We consulted with a wide group of people internally and externally around the globe and considered a variety of commentary in making these decisions. (2/8)
There was clear desire and reason to capitalize Black. Most notably, people who are Black have strong historical and cultural commonalities, even if they are from different parts of the world and even if they now live in different parts of the world. (3/8)
That includes the shared experience of discrimination due solely to the color of one’s skin. (4/8)
There is, at this time, less support for capitalizing white. White people generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color. (5/8)
In addition, we are a global news organization and in much of the world there is considerable disagreement, ambiguity and confusion about whom the term includes. (6/8)
We explain our decision process in greater detail in a blog post about how AP leadership weighed the pros and cons of capitalization: apstylebook.com/blog_posts/16 (7/8)
As the AP Stylebook currently directs, we will continue to avoid the broad and imprecise term brown in racial, ethnic or cultural references. If using the term is necessary as part of a direct quotation, we will continue to use the lowercase. (8/8)
