Delta Air Lines Says Black Should Be Capitalized, White Should Be Lowercase

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” – George Orwell, Animal Farm

Delta Air Lines is hardly alone in following AP guidelines in capitalizing “black” and “brown” when using those terms in a racial or ethnic sense while leaving “white” lowercase. But it is a policy that lacks any sort of intellectual credibility or logical coherence and the people roasting Delta for this are right to do so…

Black And White: Delta Air Lines Is Wrong To Follow AP Guidelines On “Race”

Robby Starbuck is the sort of political firebrand that I typically avoid. The right wing “persecution complex” and “outrage machine” can get pretty nauseating and is often not constructive toward finding common ground and advancing society toward mutual understanding and respect. But Starbuck’s viral tweet criticizing Delta for its policy of capitalizing black and brown, but not white, strikes me as quite valid:

Now Delta may be simply following AP guidelines in its corporate communication, but the guidelines themselves strike as inherently problematic and I would hope that those across the political spectrum could agree on this.

Let’s explore those guidelines, which you can review here.

AP’s style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa.

This whole assessment starts with a flawed premise that there is a shared history among those who call themselves black, a gross generalization that reduces black Americans and indeed blacks around the world into a single category.

It’s just not accurate. My next-door neighbors are black. My pastor is black. I have black clients at Award Expert and my church, much like Los Angeles, is a great melting pot filled with black folks from all over the world. There is not a “shared history” beyond the melanin in their skin.

There’s also a logical inconsistency in arguing that there is an “essential” shared history but identifying as “black” is a choice.

But okay, white people are not homogenous either. Capitalize them too?

White people generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color.

“White” cannot be capitalized because the white supremacists do it:

We agree that white people’s skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore those problems. But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs.

That’s about as logical as saying that we cannot fly on Delta because the white supremacists do too.

By not capitalizing white (or capitalizing black and brown), the AP shows inconsistency, discriminates against white people, and all implies that white is default.

Back to Delta. Fly Delta and you’ll see the beauty of the United States on most flights: a mix of white, black, brown, and other “colors” working together as one. The hope of a society that moves beyond the narrow and subjective construct of race is realized in companies like Delta in which a common uniform unites those of very different backgrounds.

Ultimately, if we are serious about overcoming the vestiges of racism, we must stop using language that promotes the existence of an essential difference between people based on their skin color.

CONCLUSION

Yes, many black and brown people have been subject to historical discrimination and many whites have enjoyed certain privileges by default, which I have studied and even witnessed myself in my travels to the developing world. I don’t deny that racism still exists. I don’t deny that “white privilege” still exists. The issue of race and white supremacy is highly nuanced. But capitalizing one skin color and not the other is the opposite of equality: it perpetuates a naively patronizing manner of looking at human beings. Delta should be faulted for following the AP style guide.

From liveandletfly.com

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