It's not, but insisting on using it even though there are perfectly fine alternatives and you know that there's a sizeable chunk of people that considers it racist is just being an asshole.
If you let the minority dictate your life it's gonna cause trouble. What if nazis start saying that they love "mainline" branch because it's meinline and that reminds them of Adolf. Ok lets remove mainline.
Remember the whole ordeal with the "ok" hand sign? That's what happens when you let the minority control you, and that wasn't even a real case of racism.
> What if nazis start saying that they love "mainline" branch because it's meinline and that reminds them of Adolf. Ok lets remove mainline.
You see, the thing about culture is that it's rapidly evolving and not necessarily rational (which is perfectly fine). If the word "mainline" would become associated with nazis commonly enough, I'd definitely want to avoid its usage despite of there being nothing wrong it, just like I'm not going to use swastikas just because it's an ancient symbol of well-being. So no, "blacklist" isn't racist, but if we can reduce the ugly associations that our language may be implying, then insisting on not doing that surely doesn't present you in a good light.
Why is a rapidly evolving, irrational culture perfectly fine? It sounds quite dangerous and self destructive to me. If you're going to live on eggshells being scared of what a fringe minority decides on a whim, then I don't know what to say.
Because that's what culture is and has always been and everything is fine. Nobody is living on eggshells just because words can change meanings and associations over time. To a well adjusted person, it's a non-issue.
I'd say those people who suddenly make innocent common words "racist" are the assholes. They're extremely privileged and act like a totalitarian regime. What's scary is that they believe they're on the right side.
We've banned this account for using HN primarily (exclusively, actually) for ideological battle. We don't allow that here, regardless of what ideology you're for or against. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for.
Remember the whole ordeal with the "ok" hand sign? That's what happens when you let the minority control you, and that wasn't even a real case of racism.