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Am black, I totally agree it’s not a major issue, but I still think it’s not a bad change to make. This is just a hypothetical scenario but I’ve had similar mom

Am black, I totally agree it’s not a major issue, but I still think it’s not a bad change to make. This is just a hypothetical scenario but I’ve had similar moments before. I’m working with a white person, he says something like, "you mind hooking up that slave device?" And there’s this tiny bit of awkwardness, which feels unmentionably dumb to both of us, but is there none the less. We say nothing, and the moment passes. Except maybe, next time subconsciously, we’re a little more reluctant to work with each other, we don’t even realize why. If making this inconsequential terminological adjustment serves to help get rid of a minuscule, barely perceptible degree of racial friction, then great, why not I say.

root_axis 6y ago
I don't think it's a bad change, I think alternative words are fine and I would encourage anyone who wants to make such a change to do a find/replace in their codebase. What I don't like is delving into this topic now, when there are so many more important issues at hand and the nation is actually listening for once, especially knowing how this issue will be used to shut down important conversations around race and characterize the social justice movement as puerile and trivial. The reality is master/slave terminology is trivial. If someone wants to replace "master" with "main" in code review, I think that's fine, perhaps even slightly better than what it was before, but this should stay within the confines of the organization rather than dilute the movement proper.
- sukilot 6y ago
  A computer programmer can change programming terminology. They can't really change police department practices.
  - root_axis 6y ago
    > A computer programmer can change programming terminology And that's fine, perhaps even laudable in the abstract, but right now it's not what we should be wasting time on. > They can't really change police department practices They could protest. They could donate time and money. They could use their platform to elevate issues that have a material impact on people's lives. They aren't obligated to do those things to be good people, and a few of them might be doing all of the above, but changing computer jargon doesn't even begin to register on the scales of social justice, it is so utterly meaningless in the face of what's going on all around us that it's almost insulting, save for the fact that the idea is overall well intentioned.

root_axis 6y ago

I don't think it's a bad change, I think alternative words are fine and I would encourage anyone who wants to make such a change to do a find/replace in their codebase. What I don't like is delving into this topic now, when there are so many more important issues at hand and the nation is actually listening for once, especially knowing how this issue will be used to shut down important conversations around race and characterize the social justice movement as puerile and trivial. The reality is master/slave terminology is trivial. If someone wants to replace "master" with "main" in code review, I think that's fine, perhaps even slightly better than what it was before, but this should stay within the confines of the organization rather than dilute the movement proper.

sukilot 6y ago
A computer programmer can change programming terminology. They can't really change police department practices.
- root_axis 6y ago
  > A computer programmer can change programming terminology And that's fine, perhaps even laudable in the abstract, but right now it's not what we should be wasting time on. > They can't really change police department practices They could protest. They could donate time and money. They could use their platform to elevate issues that have a material impact on people's lives. They aren't obligated to do those things to be good people, and a few of them might be doing all of the above, but changing computer jargon doesn't even begin to register on the scales of social justice, it is so utterly meaningless in the face of what's going on all around us that it's almost insulting, save for the fact that the idea is overall well intentioned.