Should i hyphenate african american

The failure to capitalize Black when it is synonymous with African American is a matter of unintended racism, to put the best possible face on it. A similar case arises with the racial term Native American. The previous edition of The Chicago Manual of Style insisted not only on downcasing black on the grounds that it was a color word, but also on downcasing the first word of native American. Several stylebook editors and at least one prominent language lack the mother wit to understand that native American refers to anyone born in the United States regardless of racial stock, and that Native American refers to an American Indian wherever that person was born.

Happily, this distinction is now acknowledged in the current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and some current dictionaries. Consider this a "call to the colors. Robert S. Wachal is professor emeritus of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Iowa.

He retired in after 33 years at the university and many years on the editorial advisory board of American Speech. Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves.

But the next citation, from the Aug. And the next citation, from the Jan. Check out our books about the English language. Enter your email address to subscribe to the blog by email. If you are an old subscriber and not getting posts, please subscribe again. Email Address. Close Menu Home. The Books. Woe Is I. General Guidelines Race and ethnicity are not the same. General writing guidelines Focus on the person—their achievement, their leadership, their scholarship, their research, etc.

Ensure that headlines, images, captions, and graphics are fair and responsible in their depiction of people of color and coverage of issues. Avoid stereotypes. Many BIPOC Black, indigenous, and people of color are told that their names are too complicated or too difficult to pronounce. Use the name that the subject asks you to use and do not ask to use a nickname instead.

The university should investigate what can be done on a larger scope to rectify this. If you know of a possible solution, email the editor. Quick guidance Source: Race Forward. A person also may identify specifically as African rather than African American, such as Ghanaian or Congolese. Iowa capitalizes the B in Black when referring to people who are part of a shared identity or culture, per AP style.

African American is not hyphenated. Never use the word colored or Negro as a descriptor. Likewise, Afro American is an archaic descriptor and should not be used. In the body of a piece, use Black people , not Blacks , to refer to a group. Do not use Black as a singular noun, such as a Black. Asian, Asian American When writing about someone or a group of this background, it usually makes more sense to refer to a specific background—e. Use that term rather than a collective noun.