"That" vs "Who", when referring to a group

Use of "that" to refer to people is widespread, and many people do not see a problem with it. Others think that it sounds off, and prefer to use "who". I prefer to use "who" in careful English.

Anonymous"The democrats WHO did this thing..." or "The republicans THAT did this thing..."?

Both are correct. That is the oldest English relative pronoun and was used to refer to people for hundreds of years before the relative who existed.

CB

Cool BreezeThat is the oldest English relative pronoun and was used to refer to people for hundreds of years before the relative who existed.

I'm afraid I don't buy this kind of argument. Just because one usage is older than another doesn't mean that the older usage is correct now. Plenty of old usages are incorrect in modern English. I'm not saying that "that

GPYJust because one usage is older than another doesn't mean that the older usage is correct now.

Right. I didn't mean that at all. I know very well that most of Old English isn't correct today. I just mentioned the fact that that is an old relative pronoun because there are people who think that using that as a relative is a new phenomenon and

Cool BreezeRight. I didn't mean that at all.

Sorry, my mistake then.

AnonymousIf a collection of people (as a whole) has done something

Just a note. Collection - is for inaminate objects, e.g. paintings, antique automobiles gold coins etc, not for people.