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It's not about intention. Nobody believes that the words "master" and "slave" are intended to cause racial stress in a technical context -- but that's not the p
by nickmooney 8y ago
It's not about intention. Nobody believes that the words "master" and "slave" are intended to cause racial stress in a technical context -- but that's not the point. The point is that these words do not exist in a vacuum, and for many people words like "master" and "slave" do in fact evoke historically-grounded feelings of discomfort, even when that isn't the intent.
When someone says "hey, I feel hurt when you use that term", the correct response (imo) is to do your best to stop using the term. It's a small sacrifice to make other people feel safer, and that's absolutely worth it.
- SamReidHughes 8y agoNo, those people want to feel important and express control over you. It's morally wrong to accommodate such behavior.
- nickmooney 8y agoI just honestly do not believe that those are the motivations of folks trying to decolonize programming vocabulary.
- delian66 8y ago>>for many people words like "master" and "slave" do in fact evoke historically-grounded feelings of discomfort, even when that isn't the intent So what? Most peoples (all?) in history have been enslaved at one time or another. Some people are right now! I understand that it is easier to protest against word usage in freaking source files/documentation, in a field where most people are very agreeable and soft and want to accomodate everyone, even to their own detriment, than to protest against real existing problems, but come on ...
- nickmooney 8y agoSure. My ancestors were enslaved by the British. The difference is that I do not face discrimination today as a result of that. For black people in the US today, that's not the case -- the effects of slavery are still systemic issues.
- thiht 8y agoSo if I feel bad when you use the word "sacrifice" (you know, because of human sacrifice), will you stop using it? Just because I'm overly sensitive?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- nickmooney 8y agoI mean, yeah, if you truly feel hurt when I use that word, I won't use it around you. Absolutely. It's more important to me that the people around me feel heard and seen than for me to get to use a particular word. If a whole group of people say "hey this word makes me feel uncomfortable of hurt," then I try to modify my vocabulary accordingly and eliminate it.
- voidr 8y agoI can't wait for people to come forward and say that they feel hurt by words like: freedom, freedom of expression and liberty. > words like "master" and "slave" do in fact evoke historically-grounded feelings of discomfort, even when that isn't the intent. With your logic, we should stop teaching history, that way, these words would stop making people uncomfortable.