Style Guide Entries on Ethnic References
African American
Preferred to black. The hyphen is necessary in the second example because the term modifies students.
Examples:
He is an African American. They are African-American students.
American Indian
American Indian is the preferred term. Where possible, be precise and use the name of the tribe. Use a hyphen only when term is used as an adjective.
Examples:
John Smith is an American Indian. He is a Navajo commissioner.
He is proud of his American-Indian heritage.
Native American is acceptable when used in quotations and for names of organizations.
Asian American
No hyphen unless used as an adjective. Preferred term for Americans of Asian descent.
black
See African American.
Hispanic
People whose culture is Spanish. See also Latina/Latino.
Indian
Use Indian for people who are native to India. Use American Indian for people of tribes indigenous to the United States, and use specific tribe names when possible. See American Indian.
Latina/Latino
An American citizen or resident of Latin American or Spanish-speaking descent. Often Latino and Hispanic are used interchangeably to the dismay of Latinos. Technically, Hispanic refers to people whose culture is “Spanish.” Many Latino activists, writers, and politicians find the term Hispanic to
be derogatory since it homogenizes people who are otherwise racially and culturally very diverse. When it comes to self-identification, Latinos most often refer to themselves by more culturally specific identifiers like Cuban-American, Mexican-American, Central American, Guatemalan, etc. Like
many racial terms, these words and their usage are constantly undergoing change and are embroiled in controversy. When in doubt, if possible, ask the person being referred to about their preference in terminology. [Latina is feminine; Latino is masculine; Latinos is plural for both male-only groups and for mixed-gender groups; Latinas is plural feminine.]
Native American
The preferred term is American Indian. Native American is acceptable when used in quotations and for names of organizations. See American Indian.
race/ethnicity/ethnic groups
Capitalize names of races; lowercase black and white when used to refer to races. See individual entries (African American, Asian American, American Indian, Latina/Latino) for rules regarding proper references to races and ethnic groups.
Examples:
Caucasian, Hispanic