5 ms·

For a while, people were getting in trouble for using the word, "niggardly," even though it had nothing to do with the offensive term that it sounds like. http

• shakna 6y ago
  The difference being that the controversy around white/blacklist only appeared after someone said it was a controversy in 2018, which is extremely recent, and the wording doesn't contain any phonetic similarity to a term from slavery. Being able to be misheard is more of a problem when phonetics clash. Should all terms for the colour-that-is-somewhat-the-absence-of-colour now be banned? Is Vanta Black now racist? Manufactured controversy leads you down a path of absurdism. It isn't helpful to the people it purports to help, whilst granting the vocal group the ability to say they're being helpful whilst actively ignoring any actual problems.
  • sib 6y ago
    Oh, I agree. I think whitelist / blacklist is a manufactured controversy. But my point is that, if people took the time to learn the background, perhaps (in both of these examples, and others), we could avoid the kerfuffles.