Jim Crow in Savannah's Parks in the 20th Century presented by Jeffrey M. Ofgang: Notes on Style and Potentially Harmful Content

The Chicago Manual of Style now prefers to write Black with a capital B when referring to racial and ethnic identity. In a style note announcing their new policy in June 2020, the editors of the Manual wrote that their decision “owes a lot to recent events and to persuasive voices—especially those of Black and Brown authors and their allies in publishing and elsewhere—not only in academia but in news outlets and on social media.” 

While the Chicago Manual editors wrote that white as a racial description could be capitalized for consistency, news organizations including the Associated Press and the New York Times note that capitalizing white is a practice of white supremacist groups and would therefore refrain from doing so. This exhibit uses white as a racial descriptor in lower case while capitalizing Black.

Potentially Offensive Language and Content

The City 0f Savannah Municipal Archives preserves and makes accessible records due to their historical significance. Items and descriptions from the Municipal Archives collections and other sources used in this exhibit may contain language and content that some may find offensive or difficult to view. The Municipal Archives strives to address harmful descriptive information included in its records. Examples include outdated or biased language that reflects racist, sexist, ableist, or xenophobic views, or content related to violent, prejudiced, or inappropriate historical events. Items in the collections, their content, and their descriptions reflect the time period when they were created and the views of their creators. Items may retain their original description when the description provides valuable historical accuracy or context. In these instances, the description should be supplemented with additional information provided as background on the records.