Associated Press capitalizes 'b' in Black

Jul 1, 2020

The Associated Press announced Friday, June 19, that it has updated its stylebook to capitalize the 'b' in Black when referring to people in a racial, ethnic or cultural context, joining the longstanding guidance to capitalize Latino, Asian American and Native American.

Likewise, Indigenous has been capitalized to refer to individuals who are the original inhabitants of a place.

“Our discussions on style and language consider many points, including the need to be inclusive and respectful in our storytelling and the evolution of language,” John Daniszewski, AP vice president for standards, announced in a blog post. “We believe this change serves those ends.”

The lowercased black refers to a color, not a person.

The AP is continuing its discussion of whether white should be capitalized.

A subsequent AP report said that decision would come within a month.