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This. The words "white" and "black" are not proper names of places, and they aren't honorifics. To say I'm "White" would be like saying I'm "Fat" or "Tired".
by erik_seaberg 6y ago
This. The words "white" and "black" are not proper names of places, and they aren't honorifics. To say I'm "White" would be like saying I'm "Fat" or "Tired".
- neonate 6y agoI'm not sure that argument works grammatically because we capitalize things that aren't names of places, but I agree with you in the sense that it's the feeling I got while reading the article, and it was strangely creepy.
- pessimizer 6y agoBut they're also not physical qualities, they're ethnic classifications. I don't know any others that aren't capitalized. People aren't actually colored black or white, and you can have the same coloring as a person who is black or white ane be neither black or white. I'm not a big fan of the capitalization, but it's reasonable. Are "Aboriginal" or "Indigenous" place names or honorifics?
- azernik 6y agoIn the American context, they are proper names of ethnic groups.