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> White carries a different set of meanings; capitalizing the word in this context risks following the lead of white supremacists. Just… wow. This is some nex

• int_19h 4y ago
  At the end of the article there's a little note: "This piece has been updated for clarity. An earlier version included an explanation that was off-base". I got curious and looked up the initial version on the Internet Archive, and it was that paragraph that changed in the most drastic way. The original said: "AT THE COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, we capitalize Black, and not white, when referring to racial groups. Black is an ethnic designation; white merely describes the skin color of people who can, usually without much difficulty, trace their ethnic origins back to a handful of European countries." As you've noticed, this became: "AT THE COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, we capitalize Black, and not white, when referring to groups in racial, ethnic, or cultural terms. For many people, Black reflects a shared sense of identity and community. White carries a different set of meanings; capitalizing the word in this context risks following the lead of white supremacists."