Whether or not the etymology of the term is derogatory or racially insensitive is missing the point. The point is that some words are particularly emotionally

Whether or not the etymology of the term is derogatory or racially insensitive is missing the point. The point is that some words are particularly emotionally charged for some readers. In this case that's not irrational, and rational or not, in this case that's probably observable. In the context of technical writing and source code, there's no particularly good reason to use a term that makes a sizable chunk of the readers uncomfortable.