This logic implies that one could name a project after an explicit slur and it being a project instead of a directed insult makes it no longer a slur. That doesn't track at all.
A few years back a non-native English speaker presented an Erlang library called `coon` because he like this abbreviation of the word `raccoon`. [1]
The shitstorm from Americans (US and Canada) was unbelievable. Even though:
- most people on the mailing list where this was discussed never heard it used as a slur
- people in the states where this word was purportedly still used as a slur never heard it used
- several black people (both African Americans IIRC and a guy from South Africa) said they had no problems with the name (and promptly ignored)
The name of the library was changed.
Now. The question is: who decides it is a slur especially in our global world? Somehow, increasingly, it's the white Americans who end up being offended on everyone's behalf.
See also: the performative activism around master/main branches in git.
man, don't be ridiculous. 'coon' is objectively a long standing racist slur. That some people ("a guy from South Africa", ffs) claimed not to know this or notto have heard it personally doesn't make that untrue. I invite you to go to any black neighborhood in the US and chant 'coon' for as long as you can to determine just how performative the white americans are being. I'll take the short side of 30 seconds.
> coon' is objectively a long standing racist slur.
In the US. Not even the whole of the US, but in some parts of the US.
> That some people ("a guy from South Africa", ffs) claimed not to know this
I wonder who is being a racist now. "South Africa ffs" and "claim not to know".
The world is much larger than the US and is not required to view everything through US issues.
> I invite you to go to any black neighborhood in the US
So, to quote myself: "The question is: who decides it is a slur especially in our global world? Somehow, increasingly, it's the white Americans who end up being offended on everyone's behalf."
> So, to quote myself: "The question is: who decides it is a slur especially in our global world? Somehow, increasingly, it's the white Americans who end up being offended on everyone's behalf."
The black people on the receiving end of “coon” would be the decision makers in this case.
And besides that, during the googling process of figuring out if the name is taken the negative connotations of this one would come up.
Anyway I’m working on a new terminal string styling library that I’ve named Colored which should be of some interest to you.
> The black people on the receiving end of “coon” would be the decision makers in this case.
The black people in the United States, specifically. To put this into perspective: 1.2 billion people live in Africa alone, most of them non-white.
> Anyway I’m working on a new terminal string styling library that I’ve named Colored which should be of some interest to you.
And what exactly is the negaive connotation here for 1.1 billion English speakers (out of 8.7 billion people) who don't live in the US?
Once again. To put this into perspective since you both are being maximally culturally and racially insensitive to anything that is not US, here's a perspective of an English-speaking person from South Africa (I only quote parts of the messages):
I think you just need to tolerate different cultures better. A word that is
deemed racist in one culture isn't the same in another.
There are many other uses for coon.
Maine Coon is a type of cat.
Coon is type of cheese in Australia. Go on - tell all of Australia to stop
eating coon.
Next you'll be telling me to rethink the use of the work 'monkey' or 'gorrilla' for a library. Where does it end?
I grew up in apartheid South Africa. This was a system of government that
legitimised racist laws... I've been mocked and called racial slurs, served last in queues, talked down to. Bad words over there are 'kaffir' and 'coolie'. They're
highly offensive words and given the nature of violence in that country,
it's something you could be killed over. For me those words carry more
significance than 'coon' ever will.
...
When I moved to NZ it was quite clear that those same words that were
insulting in South Africa didn't carry over. Both countries speak English
but the cultures are different, although SA has more languages. I noticed
that there's there is a product called 'kaffir lime' grocery stores
everywhere. Imagine having 'n...ga lime' in American/Canadian grocery
stores. I got used to it after a while and it really doesn't bother me
anymore. Instead of shouting out about the use of the word 'kaffir' in
their product, I understood that different countries use words differently,
and expecting NZ to change for me to accommodate my sensitivities would
have been stupid.
--- end quote ---
Now. Are you also going to dismiss this as "some guy from South Africa ffs"?
If the US were a person, literally everyone would tell them to get its shit together and go see a psychologist. And not make the world assume that all issues must be viewed strictly through skewed American view.