I’m old enough to remember when black people were called “Negroes.” In the late sixties or early seventies, it must have been concluded that “Negro” smacked too much of Uncle Tom, so the term of choice was changed to “black.” That made perfect sense. At some point in the late eighties or early nineties, however, the politically correct term changed again, to “African-American.” I wasn’t that wild about this one, as it would literally apply to a white South African who immigrated to this country, but the term stuck, so I went with it. Today, “Black” has suddenly emerged as the PC favorite.
To be honest, I’m torn. On the one hand, I feel like I’m being railroaded by an unrepresentative left-wing Twitter mob; furthermore, it would logically require us to capitalize “White,” as well. On the other hand, I think people have a right to decide what they are called without judgment from outsiders. In the end, I will probably bow to this choice as well, but not without some temporary objections.