Earlier: The New Childishness: “Why we capitalize ‘Black’ (and not ‘white’)”
Rather than merely capitalizing the word “Black,” I think the prestige press should take a lesson from Broadway musicals like Oklahoma!, Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, and Mamma Mia! and always print the word in italics with an exclamation point:
For example, from the New York Times in the bad old disrespectful days of 2019 when blacks were treated equally with whites in terms of capitalization:
A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions and exclusion, separates black and white America.
By Trymaine Lee
AUG. 14, 2019
In more reverential 2020, that would be:
A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions and exclusion, separates Black and white America.
But in 2021:
A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions and exclusion, separates Black! and white America.
