🚀 go-pugleaf

Greg Gross (galan@netlink.cts.com) wrote:

: I was around during that period when we went through the process of 
: changing from being addressed as Negro to black. If you're trying to 
: suggest that the reason this happened is because some loose cabal of 
: white news editors said so, you're about to be thrown out for having been 
: caught *WAY* off base.

: That semantic change was one that worked from the inside-out.  For the 
: first time in our history in this country, we were addressing ourselves 
: by the term of our own choice. Newspapers gradually, even reluctantly, 
: recognized this and acknowledged our basic right to be addressed as we 
: choose to be addressed.
: G.

What's the thinking at your paper these days? We just published results of
a survey showing that younger blacks prefer the term "African-American"
while older folks prefer "black." I don't know whether we're going to
change our style or not.

 --
Dan Gillmor                                      Internet: dgillmor@msen.com
Detroit Free Press                               CompuServe: 73240,334
321 W. Lafayette                                 Voice: 313-222-6659
Detroit, MI 48226                                Fax: 313-222-5981