Overview
- Elon Musk reposted influencer Douglass Mackey’s observation about a New York Times article that capitalized Black but not white and labeled the paper “deliberate” in “anti-White racism.”
- Musk extended the critique to the Associated Press, arguing that legacy outlets should either capitalize all racial terms or none and calling the current approach discriminatory.
- The AP’s style guidance, updated in 2020, capitalizes Black in racial, ethnic or cultural contexts and keeps white lowercase based on differing historical and cultural considerations.
- Conservative commentators on X, including figures such as Libs of TikTok, Alex Lorusso and Joey Mannarino, echoed Musk’s criticism and cited AP Stylebook passages in their posts.
- AP notes it periodically reviews its capitalization decisions, and no changes to major newsroom style policies have been reported.