“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:
From a source at Delta Airlines. Delta is asking employees to capitalize Black & Brown but write White in lowercase. @Delta must stop this blatant racism. pic.twitter.com/1Ob0N5dYMq
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 12, 2024
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.
(Hat Tip: View From The Wing)
Matthew for President. What a valuable voice.
@Peter … +1 .
Amen!!!
Jim Crow alive and well
Same party of the jackass that brought it the first time
Some things never change
with all the things going on in the world and in our neighborhood that we could be focused on, some yay-hoo is worried about, the case of the letters that delta is using. ridiculous. make it easy, capitalize nothing, focus on the big stuff, like honesty, integrity, and on time flights.
You mean a “ya-hoo” like those idiots in BLM?
Put a sock in it you kosher clown.
At least DL didn’t play the song :” black is black,I want my baby back…” When I visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture it opened my understanding to how pain and adversity have helped build individuals who made lasting contributions to society. The real enemies of this country keep low salaries for teachers,elderly people in prison like institutions and a court system that throws the weight of the law against those who can’t afford a protracted legal battle.
WHITE , WHITE , WHITE !!!
Now what fools ?
The fact you felt a need to write this article and others shows you’ve got some soul searching to do on your own feelings on race…. Not sure where your degree in anthropology is from but it’s you who is making gross generalizations.
Gross generalizations like “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”?
The Black Brazilian, Cuban, Haitian, South African, American, and Ghanian are not all the same nor have a shared history.
Please explain why you feel “The fact [the author] felt a need to write this article and others shows [he’s] got some soul searching to do on [his] own feelings on race?
It’s not at all clear to me.
I’m curious too…
You’ve got some brain searching to do.
Go find one.
Many Black Americans do not view “black” as an adjective, but “Black American” as a proper noun, so capitalizing is appropriate. I believe most white people in America view “white” as an adjective… I know I do. I may be an Acadian American, but I don’t view white as my identity. I think many Black people do. I don’t view white vs black in this context as an equal comparison.
I think that is such a slippery slope and I do see a big difference between a “black person” and a “Black American” which is indeed a proper noun describing a finite group of people (despite great diversity within that group).
Think of it this way:
Many [white] Americans do not view [“white”] as an adjective, but “[White] American” as a proper noun, so capitalizing is appropriate.
Then a lot of assumptions here:
I don’t view the word through the lense of race or my whiteness (and that may well due to white privilege), but just because a black person does (and some whites certainly do even though you and I do not) does not mean that the B in black should be capitalized.
@Matthew I appreciate your response , and agree it can be a slippery slope. My girlfriend always goes to bed before me… She’s a sleepy American, but no matter how she or anybody else views her, she isn’t a Sleepy American.
In the case of people of African heritage in the USA, they don’t generally have knowledge of, or ties to, a specific homeland. Even if you feel you’re American, and nothing more, most Americans do in fact cite their heritage as part of their identity. Irish, Swedish, Italian, Mexican, Filipino… it’s a unique symptom of being a nation of immigrants.
For Black Americans, in most cases, they have no ties to Africa other than skin color, and certainly not to modern day African borders, which themselves are post-colonial constructs. White is not a necessary identifier for white Americans because they have a homeland they could choose to identify with. Black Americans do not, and as such, Black means more to Black Americans than white does to white (or Asian, or Latino) Americans.
I don’t believe Delta, or anyone else, is trying to make any sort of statement, they’re just acknowledging Black as an identity in the same way they would for any other descriptor of ones heritage. Though I suppose we can all agree to disagree.
This is just part of the western joke.
I once heard a good memo from a black person. The western world are tolerating black people (and same with other minorities, race, culture etc.), what does tolerate mean? I the white person is the real human and I’m a nice person that I tolerate black people… Stop tolerating. They are exactly the same human as we are…
The issue is the other way also, (some) black people are too much stuck in the past. For example Jews have had the worst history (in my opinion) of all other nations. But are there any DP camps still in Europe? No. We settled in other countries, we are not stuck with the past, we focus on the future. While other minorities are stuck with the past… Ignore the past and focus & invest in the future…
“They are exactly the same human as we are… ”
You know good and well that this is simply not true.
The progs have a very patronizing attitude towards the Black and Brown people, and think they can’t handle being treated equally with the remainder of humanity. Makes one wonder who are the real racists.
Nothing like elite, liberal, white people tell black people what to think, do, and eat.
Since Delta has this policy, are ‘WHITE’ dolllars less important than the ‘BLACK OR “BROWN” dollars are? How idiocitic for an airline to get involved in this type of racial stupidity.
Maybe those with”white” dollars will now choose to fly other airlines.
So the story here is that Delta follows the AP Stylebook? If there’s one thing Americans can agree on, it seems to be that no grievance is too petty to air on social media.
That being said, everyone who cares about this sort of thing knows AP Style is shit. Chicago style is vastly superior. Can you imagine adopting a stylebook that rejects the Oxford comma? Barbaric!
Sidestep the politics and nonsense altogether. Capitalize all colors, used in any context, and just move on.
I drive a Silver car. The sky is Blue.
Now no one can politicize grammar and colors and we can focus on real issues in our communities.
Oh look Delta being woke again. What a shocker. Progressive racist wackos!
Maybe you should listen to the far right more often Matthew. You may learn something you dim-witted imbecile.
Salute.
How about this? The AP Style Guide is widely considered the journalists “bible,” and to blatantly ignore it is not the same as having typos in your posts. Maybe just have some style.
This implies that Whites are of less something or other. This is BS. Period.I am sick and tired of these discriminations towards Whites. The idea that blacks have done great things is also BsS.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
(Tried the emoji first above, but it didn’t post)
Except this is not from Delta airline. It is from Delta project. Read about it yesterday where a commenterr mentioned it and yes even their website fits the pic you posted.
Delta Air Lines confirmed it uses this language…
Lol, who cares? Jesus, you snowflakes are just looking for things to get offended by.
I remember learning about that in an editing class back in the 1990’s. I thought it was incoherent. We also learned, courtesy of the AP style guide, that one should say Black, but never Black man. Black was sufficient to cover it (i.e. a Black walked into a room, but never a Black man walked into a room). I find it weird and kinda racist. Speaking of discrimination, are you going to write anything about the huge class action lawsuit filed against United yesterday, Sambrano v. United, alleging Title VII and ADA discrimination? There’s a lot of pretty shocking information in it, especially if you’re a Christian.
I think your reasoning and understanding of Black people is a bit flawed. You stated we do not have a shared history. That is totally false. We most certainly do, and it is apparent in many of our customs and traditions that are practiced by Black people everywhere. What we are not, is a homogenous group. Yes, we are all dynamic and different as any other group of people. But those differences do not erase our shared history, and our shared experiences both good and bad.
Most people really don’t care. You’re not that important.
As a POC, I denounce this trash from academia.
Racism is a choice that we still allow the government and media etc use. Equality means all are equal. If we as a nation truly believe this then why do we have so many “classifications or labels” that in and of themselves create segregation? Black, white, hispanic, lesbian, gay, non binary,etc. Classifications/labels create a value to some degree for eveyone who reads them. If we truly want equality then what do we do? Wanting special or different treatment because of a classification or label is not equality. This is the heart of the problem. My family is mixed and we have adopted sons. I dont refer to them as my adopted hispanic sons- i call them my sons. The media and government despite what most believe wants the racial tensions in this country- because if we as a people are truly united and equal the government would actually have to work for the people, and they would not control the people.
Maybe delta can give blacks a 20% permanent discount and charge whites a permanent 20% premium on all airfares…..forever.
Ya know…..for retribution.
Let me know when ed bastion hands over the reigns of the company to some random black guy he finds waiting for the bus on Virginia Ave.