Plain and Natural

When I joined this committee in January I jumped into the middle of a discussion that’s full of terms and ideas I need to think about.

As I read through various blog posts I was struck by the different points of view, even on the use of “diverse,” and "diversity.” For instance, Annie Schutte posted an interview with the Diversity Committee on the YALSA's The Hub blog and there were two comments: 

1. Hannah Gómez said: “We need to make a push to stop calling those books diverse books and multicultural books if want to emphasize that they are for everyone.”
2.  B.A Binns responded: “I have to disagree. The problem of discovery is difficult enough…We have to name them so we can find them.”

I noticed the way these words inspire unnatural phrases such as “coming from a place of a diversity,” “characters that don’t come from a place of diversity themselves.” Eeyike. Awkward. Aren’t we all Word People? Can’t we speak plainly? Do better?

I started thinking about other terms. For instance, when is “African-American” correct? When might one use “black?”

My copyeditor said our usual choice is African American.  No hyphen.

I spoke to a director in Human Resources, who said that the usage was a matter of “self-identity.” She would describe herself as African-American. But someone whose roots are not in Africa, who is from the Caribbean, perhaps, or Haiti, might not use that term.

Susan Guerrero, a staff editor at the New York Times,  referred me to their style book:

"African-American, black. Try to determine and use the term preferred by the group or person being described. When no preference is known, the writer should choose. But use black when the reference is not only to people of African descent but also to those whose more immediate roots are in the Caribbean or South America. Use more specific terms — Nigerian-American; Jamaican-American — when they are appropriate. Also see ethnicity and historically black." The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage : The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the... by Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly (Jan 2, 2002)

I asked her how terms had evolved for journalists. And what about this: I’d say that Susan is Mexican-American.  But which is correct: Mexican-American, Latina, Hispanic?

She said:

Well, you want to get the family arguing, trot this one out. Me, I don't like being a hyphenated American, but The New York Times insists upon the hyphen between Mexican and American. Not so long ago we were chicanos, which many in my family liked, although not my grandfather, but then he had tiraded against zoot suits and admired Barry Goldwater. But the use of chicano seems to have faded. Most of us (I'm just speaking for los primos), prefer Latino to Hispanic. I'd have to think about why; I guess because any relationship with Spain is in the distant conquistatorial past. Of course, my father always said he was a Mexican, although he, like his parents before him, had been born in the United States. But Uncle Fernando bridles at that; We're Americans!

Well, that simplified things.

She also said:

Pet peeves: I spend 9 percent of my time here changing '"the town was discovered/settled by whites in 1603" to "European colonists arrived in ..."

Crime stories where the suspects are black but the victim's race is not identified. Hey, fair is fair.

The word "tribe," often unnecessary.

The use of the word race for people who are not a separate race: Mexicans, for example, are not a race. So we can't have "racial tensions."

An editor once changed a reference I made to being Mexican to "Hailing from South of the Border."

I don't know what diverse means -- usually an euphemism for an iffy neighborhood. Multicultural? Pretty useless.

And there we have it.  I’m so happy to have clarified these questions for everyone. 

And now I see that I was after the wrong thing—clear, direct language.  The language is often awkward because the discussion itself is still awkward.  The fact that we’re puzzling, and tripping up, over our words is a good sign. Change can be clumsy. Earlier terms were less convoluted, but not inclusive. Plain and natural: That’s not going to happen for a while. Keep trying.

Dear reader: I’d love to hear what you think.