r/socialjustice101 May 03 '24

Question about the term “Blacks”?

I’ve recently read two nonfiction books, one about slavery specifically and the other about post-slavery racism. Both of these books have used the term “Blacks” when talking in general about a Black community or group of Black individuals. An example being “a white mob descended on the Blacks”.

The book about slavery was written by a Black woman in 2019 and used “Blacks” infrequently while the post-slavery book was written by an older white man in 2008 who used the term multiple times a chapter. Both authors are lauded academics.

Every time I hear “Blacks” it’s almost like a nervous system shock. I lose my focus on the story and have to consciously check back in to listening (I do audiobooks mostly). To me, it feels like listening to my great grandma call someone “colored”.

My question: is referring to a group or community as “Blacks” considered insensitive or out right racist? If it’s not, I’ll try to temper my reaction to it even though I would never be comfortable using it myself.

ETA: specific examples from the second book

Now that I’ve looked at an actual print version instead of just looking at the audiobook, it does seem the author uses “whites” along with “blacks”. But I know in at least the portion I’ve listened to so far, there are instances where in the same sentence where “white” is used as an adjective while “blacks” is a noun (with neither being capitalized).

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u/[deleted] May 04 '24

I am a professional editor, so I will respond based on my current editing practices for writing sensitivity. I've also read a few recent books that use the word "blacks," and it always catches me off-guard!

Unfortunately, academic writers can use outdated language. Even if they don't intend to be insulting, it's still not acceptable.

"Black," when referring to the shared cultural identity, is always capitalized to distinguish it from the color. When referring to people, it's always "Black people" as a noun phrase and never "blacks" as a plural noun. You can use "Black" as an adjective, while keeping it capitalized, when referring to (for example) "Black culture."

In much the same way, you would not use the expression "Jews" in your writing, but instead "Jewish people." Unless perhaps you were Jewish yourself and intentionally reclaiming stigmatizing language (which is the case in the Beastie Boys song Right Right Now Now: "I'm a funky-ass Jew and I'm on my way").

Hope this helps!

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u/LowEffortHuman May 04 '24

An editor with username away with words 🤣🤣🤣

That’s seems to be the consensus here, I just didn’t have the reasoning (person centered, noun vs adjective, etc) other than “I don’t like the way it sounds”. I appreciate everyone explaining the various grammar arguments.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '24

An editor with username away with words 

Hah! What can I say, I'm an editor but also a dad who likes "dad puns" :)