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by slfnflctd 2169 days ago
[After watching the above comment score bounce around more than I usually see around here:]

Changing names in software isn't really that hard if you understand the code base. It can even help you understand it better-- and we do it all the time for non-politically-charged stuff. If you find yourself feeling emotional & indignant when someone wants to change a word that bothers them, you should look real close at why. Does it really hurt you that much? Is it honestly hampering your freedom of expression, or any other actually meaningful freedom you have? I'd like to see a good argument for that. And if it doesn't... why are you so upset?

It's quite telling how much this pisses people off. As soon as race enters into it, it's obvious that most minds are already made up. For the last 6-10 years, racists and misogynists have become increasingly bold, and their insidious 'arguments' poison all discourse. I'm done putting up with their sophistry.

1 comments

> "For the last 6-10 years, racists and misogynists have become increasingly bold, and their insidious 'arguments' poison all discourse."

Being a minority myself who opposes these pointless language changes and seeing plenty of black/minority comments with similar opposition, may I point out that "everybody who disagrees me is a racist" just doesn't work particularly well as a rationalization?

Well, I heard an interview on NPR a couple days ago from a young Black woman who was surprised & hurt when she discovered some of these terms and is part of the effort to change them, so there's not exactly a consensus.

Also, whoever is saying "everybody who disagrees with me is a racist" is probably wrong, unless they're talking about a specifically racist thing. I don't do that. However, you cannot deny the recent increase in actual white nationalism and neo-nazis, which is what I was referring to.