You state poor people commit more crime. I believe what you're saying is poor people commit more violent crime. Rich people commit more white collar crime (e.g. Trump). White collar crime is harder to determine and prosecute. Ergo why poor people are disproportionately represented in prison.
You state poor people commit more crime. I believe what you're saying is poor people commit more violent crime. Rich people commit more white collar crime (e.g. Trump). White collar crime is harder to determine and prosecute. Ergo why poor people are disproportionately represented in prison.
More interesting to start with the phrase "Black people". I capitalize "Black" for two reasons
1. The AP style guide suggests it:
"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. The lowercase black is a color, not a person."
2. I read articles on medium a while ago from Black authors that stated the term Black should be capitalized and always used as an adjective. They identified with the capitalized term Black.
You use "black" in lower case. Why?
As for the origins of race (versus racism) as a distinction in humanity, assigning the concept to white people or Black people is disingenuous. It was first defined in Europe as part of the enlightenment. Its not surprising that early anthropological work that observable characteristic difference in humans would be a starting point for a categorization.
That morphed into the use of "white" as a racial category in the founding of the united states including the first census which asked for free whites, all other free persons and slaves. Should the census continue to use the white category as meaningful.
You state that culture is hard to assess. I don't believe that is the case at a community level. I believe a Black community in Birmingham AL has a very distinct culture versus the white community in Birmingham AL. In fact, I would state the cultural difference cause the divide more than the skin color differences.
Because I disagree with those authors and I think making "black" into an identity is, in every sense, a step in the wrong direction. I use the word black as a descriptor (even though my skin isn't technically black), so I don't capitalise it, any more than I'd capitalise any other descriptor.
Sometimes an editor will insist on capitalising "black," in which case I'll insist that they capitalise "white" too. But my preference is to do everything in my power to refute the idea that this minor physical characteristic is meaningful.
All good points.
You state poor people commit more crime. I believe what you're saying is poor people commit more violent crime. Rich people commit more white collar crime (e.g. Trump). White collar crime is harder to determine and prosecute. Ergo why poor people are disproportionately represented in prison.
More interesting to start with the phrase "Black people". I capitalize "Black" for two reasons
1. The AP style guide suggests it:
"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. The lowercase black is a color, not a person."
2. I read articles on medium a while ago from Black authors that stated the term Black should be capitalized and always used as an adjective. They identified with the capitalized term Black.
You use "black" in lower case. Why?
As for the origins of race (versus racism) as a distinction in humanity, assigning the concept to white people or Black people is disingenuous. It was first defined in Europe as part of the enlightenment. Its not surprising that early anthropological work that observable characteristic difference in humans would be a starting point for a categorization.
That morphed into the use of "white" as a racial category in the founding of the united states including the first census which asked for free whites, all other free persons and slaves. Should the census continue to use the white category as meaningful.
You state that culture is hard to assess. I don't believe that is the case at a community level. I believe a Black community in Birmingham AL has a very distinct culture versus the white community in Birmingham AL. In fact, I would state the cultural difference cause the divide more than the skin color differences.
"You use "black" in lower case. Why?"
Because I disagree with those authors and I think making "black" into an identity is, in every sense, a step in the wrong direction. I use the word black as a descriptor (even though my skin isn't technically black), so I don't capitalise it, any more than I'd capitalise any other descriptor.
Sometimes an editor will insist on capitalising "black," in which case I'll insist that they capitalise "white" too. But my preference is to do everything in my power to refute the idea that this minor physical characteristic is meaningful.