PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Washington Post editor Fred Hiatt asked the following question in a piece that ran on-line this morning:

How much controversy can there be about whether to capitalize the first letter in a word?

In the case of word black/Black, the answer is a lot.

Those who favor capitalizing the word could believe that doing so underlines the importance of recognizing racism, even subtle racism, and doing something about it.

Those who oppose capitalizing the word could believe it is not worth the time and energy around such a minute, irrelevant  detail, including that many of these individuals could believe racism is an overblown issue in today’s society.

Further, there is also an issue about whether the word “white/White” should be capitalized if the word Black is.

Here is how the editor Hiatt framed the issue in his column today:

“The social justice movement that gained force in the wake of George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has spurred calls to start capitalizing the word “Black.” Many news organizations have shifted their style; The Post is considering the question.

“But if you capitalize ‘Black,’ what about ‘white’?  A capital W can evoke the odious writings of white supremacists, so many people resist that change.

“Historian Nell Irvin Painter did, too, at first — but she has reconsidered while also cautioning: “One way of re-making race is through spelling — using or not using capital letters. A more potent way, of course, is through behavior.”

Painter is right.  The most potent way to express anti-racism is through improved behavior, not through just spelling.

Still, as a former journalist – someone who followed elements of writing style throughout my professional career – spelling, including capitalization, is important, at least to me.

So, here are excerpts from the Painter essay that appeared in the Washington Post:

“Restructuring policing in ways that matter will take years, and many more Confederate monuments remain standing than have come down. But in these past few earth-shaking months, one change has advanced with startling speed:  All this social upheaval has suddenly and widely restored a capital B to the word ‘Black.’

“I say ‘restored,’ because that capital B appeared in the 1970s.  I used it myself.  Then, editors, uncomfortable with both the odd combination of uppercase ‘Black’ and lowercase ‘white,’ and the unfamiliar, bumpy ‘Black and White,’ took off both capital letters. ‘Black’ returned to ‘black.’

“In the wake of massive George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, however, media outlets and journalist associations are re-embracing the capital B.  The Associated Press, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and many others took the step. (The Post has said it is considering the change.)

“Even Fox News joined the crowd. The most common motive can be summed up as respect. To many, the case for capitalizing ‘Black’ seemed obvious, whether as an ethnicity or a racial designation.”

But, Painter asks, what about “white”?

He adds:  “My initial thinking:  When I compare the cultural, intellectual and historical heft of the three categories, ‘Black’ comes out well ahead of ‘white’ and ‘brown.’  We have whole libraries of books and articles about ‘Blackness,’ world-beating traditions of music and literature, even entire academic departments 30 to 50 years old specializing in African American/black studies.

“Compared with blackness, whiteness and brownness are severely under-theorized.”

So, if this issue is important to me, what would I favor?

If it were up to me as king for a day, I would favor capitalizing any color – White, BlacK, Brown or any other – that referred to a race of people.

It is simply one small thing I can do to express my commitment that all races are equal, including and especially in the eyes of God.

If, by such action, someone were to believe that I was expressing something more profound about racism than just capitalization, so be it.

Also, in the end, the essayist Painter has the best point, this:  The most potent way to express commitment to equality is through behavior.