thanks for this great post. I was wondering how does the Tech community in Nigeria feel about the renaming of Tech jargon as currently implemented by Githab, Redhat, Twitter and others (links below). Do you think this is something companies should be doing? It seems like a cheap shot to me personally and it would be cool to get your opinion on this in a future post on your blog.
While some terms can be improved or neutralized, it’s also true that people in Africa like any other place, are also afraid of the dark. It’s part of the human experience. And lack of light or darkness is one ingredient in how or why people perceive things in particular ways.
GP is saying that most terms using black with a negative connotation, like "black list", didn't originate from racism towards people with dark skin, but from the fear that many people have of darkness. GP is suggesting that this is pretty universal across humanity, including among African cultures.
Most cultures including european have mythologies and folklore around the dark. So there is psychology surrounding this. It’s why a good portion “scary movies” involve darkness. But it’s also prevalent in other cultures.
These are feel good measure, done to tap themselves on their backs and make it seem like work has been done. But no one is fooled.