AP changes writing style to capitalize ‘b’ in Black when referring to race

On a side note, back in the days of Apartheid I once has to painstakingly explain to a news anchor that she had to stop saying that African-Americans were rioting in South Africa. She thought I was trying to trick her into saying something that would get her into trouble.

 

AP can do what it wants with its stylebook. That's not the issue. The issue is the fact that people confuse minor changes with major progress. Changing AP Style is not going to address, let alone solve, the economic and educational problems African-Americans face. It's like kneeling during the national anthem. People on both sides of that issue get all hot and bothered about an action that, in the long run, does nothing. If it did something, why isn't George Floyd still alive?

 

Jesus, what an insane argument.

No one should take any positive steps unless they solve racism completely, huh?

 

That is not what I said. I said that these little steps do not solve the big issues affecting African Americans. Why? Because they don't directly address those problems. All they do is make people feel good about themselves. It deludes people into thinking that they're doing something, when they aren't really doing anything substantive about those problems.

Do you seriously believe that African-Americans who live in poverty and who have to endure inferior Public Schools run by bureaucracies that don't want them to have access to Charter Schools or School vouchers actually give a damn about whether AP capitalizes the word "black" in its style book?? Seriously???

The real systemic racism is in a public school system that is more interested in accruing power for itself in the big cities then it is in really giving African Americans a solid education. Please explain to me how capitalizing one word in the AP stylebook is going to solve that problem.

 

I'll say it again:

If your argument is that it isn't worth doing if it doesn't solve racism, then your point is silly. And that's pretty much your argument. The AP is tweaking something that treats Blacks as it does most other ethnic or racial groups. No one is pretending it's a significant action outside of the incredibly narrow reach of the AP Stylebook.

What exactly do you want the AP Stylebook to do about systemic racism in the schools?

 

You really don't get it do you? I don't know how I can express it more plainly. All of what we're seeing right now isn't going to help one African-American get out of poverty or get a better education. Have we become so superficial a society that we don't really care whether African Americans get out of poverty or get better educations?

I'm asking people to address the real problems, not to get so infatuated with things that can't solve those problems.

Then again, I'm talking to somebody who uses an avatar of a white man in black face. Great credibility you have there.

 

As soon as you come up with a way for the AP Stylebook to address those issues, you let them know. Until then this seems to be a well-reasoned move for them.

And it's Jerry Lewis dressed as a clown, dumbass.

 

I've always thought it was someone in blackface and never understood why that would be your avatar lol. The black and white tone of the photo doesn't help.

 

Jerry Lewis made a film called "The Day the Clown Cried" about a clown that tries to cheer up kids during the Holocaust. It's such a colossal piece of shit he never released it and gathered up every print, vowing that it would never be shown in his lifetime. The avatar is a shot of Lewis while directing the film.

 

Let me make this very clear: if all we take are "incremental steps," as you put it, then nothing more substantial will be done. A lot of organizations are taking these "incremental steps" not because they actually care about African Americans & the problems they face, but to save their own sorry behinds from cancel culture. That's really what this is about.

In Oregon, both of the University of Oregon and Oregon State have decided to stop calling their athletic rivalry the "civil war." If that's not blatant posterior coverage to appease cancel culture, then what is? And, for the umpteenth time, how does that move address the serious problems African Americans face?

 

If you add "Chicago" and "black on black violence" to "cancel culture" I would have had racist post Bingo.

Stop acting like you've got a high-minded reason to avoid these changes. Yeah, there are massive things that need to be changed. When you complain about the smaller stuff -- like AP changing a capitalization to something it finds more appropriate -- you are merely fighting for the status quo over progress no matter the size or importance.

I'm an Oregon grad. So is my wife. I live across the street from a former Duck football coach whose kids played and cheered at those games. I've heard from a lot of people about the "Civil War" change. You know how many have been bothered by it? Not a single one. The issue was raised by Black players past and present who felt the name was inappropriate and that the schools could do better -- particularly since the name is pretty much meaningless in context of the rivalry. It's a reasonable request and a simple change.

But please, act like you give a shit about the name.