February 4, 2016
Fatima Syed
black , indigenous , racial identity , style
RRJ will now capitalize “Black” and “Indigenous”
The RRJ is pleased to announce we will now capitalize “Black” and “Indigenous” in all of our stories, online and in print.
More details about how and why we made this choice will be featured in our upcoming print issue, which will be out in March 2016.
by Fatima Syed
Fatima Syed is the blog editor of the spring 2016 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism.
That’s all well and good if and only if you capitalize White, as _Ebony_ does.
But nobody on your staff knows what _Ebony_ is or what the history might be, because university students are ahistorical. (Actually, so does _Jet_. What is _Jet_?)
By the same logic, yes, one would capitalize Gentile, Hapa, Haole, Chamorro, Gwailo, and related terms. But you’re all too green to understand the ramifications of the decision you were “pleased to announce.”
I would also like to know if your publication also intends to capitalize racial slurs.
So tired of this SJW masturbation. Please put the style guide down and go do something meaningful.