black/Black and white/White

[sarawilcox]

What

We've received a request for guidance on whether or not we capitalise Black, White etc. The GDS ethnicity pattern and our own work on asking users for their ethnicity would suggest that we do:

• Ask users for ethnic groups - GDS
• Ask users for ethnic groups - NHS #237

But in our inclusive language guide we currently use lower case:

Our section on capitalisation doesn't address this: https://service-manual.nhs.uk/content/formatting-and-punctuation#capitalisation

Why

It would be good to review the evidence and consider whether we should take a consistent stance on this.

Related issues

• Ask users for ethnic groups #237

[sarawilcox]

Feedback via the GOV.UK Slack:

• It’s a named ethnic group as per the 2011 census - see https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/ethnic-groups
• Also, see https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-about-ethnicity#capitalisation, which says: "We capitalise all ethnic groups. For example, Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Gypsy, Irish Traveller, and Other.

This is because:

• ethnic groups such as Asian and Indian start with a capital letter so this maintains a consistent approach for all groups
• it makes our content easier to read if we’re comparing ‘the Other ethnic group’ with other ethnic groups

For this reason we write, for example, ‘people from the Asian Other ethnic group’. This is despite the fact the category is usually ‘Any other Asian background’"

Note: other style guides differ about this and it can be a contentious area.

A DfE colleague mentioned that they didn't probe for it in testing but no one questioned capitalisation of Black and White in testing of the pattern or in the Ethnicity facts and figures. (I haven't seen anyone question the capitalisation either when we've tested the ethnicity pattern.)

[sarawilcox]

@sarahallen57 @rhiannonsmith It looks as if you've been using lowercase for white and black when talking about skin tone. Is that right? Do you have any other comments on this issue?

[sarawilcox]

Note this comment on the skin symptoms issue: https://github.com/nhsuk/nhsuk-service-manual-community-backlog/issues/181#issuecomment-850417246

[sarawilcox]

At July Style Council meeting

Agreed to add the following to the inclusive language guidance and A to Z:

Use a capital letter when you're writing about ethnicity, for example, when you're asking users for their ethnic group.

Use lower-case when you're writing about skin colour.

Examples:

"Black, Asian, African, Black British or Caribbean" or "people from a White British background"

"Impetigo starts with red sores or blisters, but the redness may be harder to see on brown and black skin".

This has been approved by NHS.UK clinicians. Getting ready to publish.

[sarawilcox]

It looks as if GOV.UK style has changed. They now say:

Capitalisation

"The government’s preferred style is not to capitalise ethnic groups, (such as ‘black’ or ‘white’) unless that group’s name includes a geographic place (for example, ’Asian’, ‘Indian’ or ‘black Caribbean’).

From December 2021, all RDU publications use this style." https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-about-ethnicity#capitalisation

[carolinefinucane864]

It looks as if GOV.UK style has changed. They now say:

Capitalisation

"The government’s preferred style is not to capitalise ethnic groups, (such as ‘black’ or ‘white’) unless that group’s name includes a geographic place (for example, ’Asian’, ‘Indian’ or ‘black Caribbean’).

From December 2021, all RDU publications use this style." https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-about-ethnicity#capitalisation

Interesting. In this sort of situation, where it would be preferable to align, what's the next step? (I couldn't see GOV's rationale)