Talk:Historically black colleges and universities

2022 bomb threats
A few weeks ago, ItsJW added a few paragraphs about the bomb threats that had occurred in January at multiple HBCUs. I removed that addition citing WP:NOTNEWS as the justification. The threats have continued for several more weeks so adding something may now be appropriate, especially if there are any good sources we can cite that link these threats to large contexts e.g., a history of threats against these institutions and their constituents, the larger history of violence against black people and institutions in the U.S. I haven't spent much time looking but unfortunately I haven't yet seen any really good, historically-informed sources making those connections (although I have seen popular press articles making the connections they haven't been very good articles). ElKevbo (talk) 20:32, 20 February 2022 (UTC)

Hi ElKevbo. I too have monitored some (but not a comprehensive review) of the continuing coverage of this topic, especially with an eye as recommended for something that includes a more sweeping, empirical approach. But frankly most of what I have seen is intuitive reporting that does not include very deep or documented digging. I will continue to monitor. ItsJW (talk) 23:16, 20 February 2022 (UTC)

Founding date of Atlanta U.
Off and on throughout the article's history, section #Private institutions has had a phrase similar to this one introducing the founding of Atlanta University in 1865: Exactly three months after the end of the Civil War, Atlanta University – now Clark Atlanta University – was founded on September 19, 1865, as the first HBCU in the Southern United States. where the underlined part at the beginning of the sentence has changed over time, as follows:
 * 2 June 2019: the phrase "After the end of the Civil War" was first added before "Atlanta University", in rev. 899983986 by Ecthelion83
 * 14 June 2020: "Shortly" was added before it, in rev. 962425389 by Dale Arnett
 * 26 June 2020: "Shortly" was changed to "Exactly three months" [after the end of the Civil War] in rev. 964652202 by
 * 13 October 2021: "three months" changed to "five months" in rev. 1049650846 by Avreml
 * 18 March 2022: the leading phrase was removed entirely, in rev. 1077809487 by Joefromrandb
 * 5 April 2022 at 00:00: it was added back in, as: "Exactly three months after the end of the Civil War in the South" in rev. 1081044032‎ by Mightylion69
 * 5 April 2022 at 08:47: leading phrase removed again in rev. 1081096798 by Mathglot.

We should get some sort of consensus about how to introduce the paragraph about the September 19, 1865 founding of Atlanta University. Pinging users for your feedback.

In my opinion, we should remove the introductory time phrase entirely, because it is unsourced WP:Original research. The source given for that assertion is Carillo-2012 (note 16), which gives the 9/19/1865 date (on page 276), but has nothing to say at all about "three months after the Civil War". As editors, we shouldn't be adding observations not made by the sources. After all, if we wanted to make a different true statement, we could write: "Exactly one year after the Third Battle of Winchester, Atlanta University – now Clark Atlanta University – was founded on September 19, 1865, as the first HBCU in the Southern United States", but the sources don't say that, so neither should we. The point being, we need to stick to what the sources say; it's not our role as editors to draw inferences that aren't made by reliable, secondary sources. Mathglot (talk) 08:49, 5 April 2022 (UTC)


 * I'm not particularly tied to either keeping or removing the leading phrase. I only included my bit to add context to the time period in which the university was founded (i.e. it is not an antebellum institution) and precision (i.e. "exactly" how much time after the Civil War had passed) was NOT my aim. The way it is at present is probably the most faithful to the source material. Ecthelion83 (talk) 13:19, 5 April 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
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Wiki Education assignment: English 102 Section 5
— Assignment last updated by DoctorBeee (talk) 20:29, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: English 102 Section 6
— Assignment last updated by Trijanas (talk) 20:36, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

Article title; black v.s. Black
Shouldn't the word black have a capital B? Lower case b makes the word a color whereas capital B makes it about a people group. See https://news.ucdenver.edu/is-the-b-in-black-capitalized-yes/ and https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black.html 4meter4 (talk) 14:29, 18 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The relevant guideline for Wikipedia is MOS:RACECAPS. What do the recent RS on this specific article's topic do? DMacks (talk) 14:50, 18 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @ No idea. I have not spent time with this topic. I only recently became aware that there are now tightening guidelines in academic writing and journalism for capitalizing the word Black (at least in the United States) when it is being used to refer to a people group. See for example https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/why-hundreds-of-american-newsrooms-have-started-capitalizing-the-b-in-black/2020/06/18/7687a7a8-b16e-11ea-8f56-63f38c990077_story.html, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jun/20/associated-press-style-guide-capitalize-black , https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black.html , https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/race-on-campus/2022-06-28 , https://www.pbs.org/standards/blogs/standards-articles/capitalizing-b-in-black/ , https://www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2020/june/umkc-edits-its-writing-style-to-capitalize-black.html I wasn't sure what wikipedia's guideline in this area was. Hence the question. I wasn't sure if the recent style guideline changes from the Associated Press in 2020 and the subsequent shift in many American university style guidelines had an impact on our policies on the English-wiki. Best.4meter4 (talk) 17:45, 18 March 2024 (UTC)