The Washington Post announced on Wednesday style changes to capitalize Black and white, saying they denote distinct cultural identities.
The announcement comes after The Associated Press said recently it would capitalize Black, but not white, in updating its style guide. AP said at the time it was weighing whether to capitalize white.
“Beginning immediately, The Washington Post will uppercase the B in Black to identify the many groups that make up the African diaspora in America and elsewhere,” the announcement from the Post Public Relations department reads.
“Stories involving race show that White also represents a distinct cultural identity in the United States,” it added, pointing to the historic mass migration of White Europeans who were initially targets of racial and ethnic discrimination.
“These diverse ethnicities were eventually assimilated into the collective group that has had its own cultural and historical impact on the nation,” the Post added. “As such, White should be represented with a capital W.”
The Post also said it will also use “other racial and ethnic identifiers,” including American Indian, Native American or Alaska Native, Asian American, Hispanic or Latino, Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.
Several publications have begun to capitalize Black, including The Wall Street Journal, the Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times and The Hill.
The changes come following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has since sparked mass protests against racial injustice across the country.
The Post said it adopted its decision after extensive consultations.
“This decision comes after extensive discussions with members of our own news organization, consultations with editors in other newsrooms nationwide and evaluations of commentary and analyses by numerous thought leaders and organizations of influence in the Black community,” the Post said.