🚀 go-pugleaf

dgillmor@msen.com (Dan Gillmor) writes:

> 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


Dan:

We haven't taken a formal survey, but our experience is essentially the 
same as yours. For now, our style seems to be either/or, and it is not 
unusual for *both* terms to turn up in the same story. 

Recently, we shifted from the term "Hispanic" to "Latino" or "Latina," 
another style change we struggled with for a very long time. Without 
nearly as much fuss, we have already switched from "Oriental" to "Asian," 
although some of the really oldtimers still forget occasionally.
G.

--
Gregory Alan Gross      Welcome to life, where no good deed goes unpunished.
San Diego Union-Tribune         (619) 293-1270 (voice)
P.O. Box 191                    (619) 293-2333 (fax)
San Diego, CA 92112-4106        galan@netlink.cts.com (Internet)