[flagrant_taco]

Can you help me understand how this is whitewashing exactly? I guess you could invent a term like poor-washing, but where did race come into this?

[shkkmo]

The term "whitewashing", like many uses of the color "white" has nothing to do with race. Rather, it is a metaphor referencing a type of paint.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewashing_(censorship)

[flagrant_taco]

There are many meanings to the term whitewashing, including applying a semitransparent white finish to wood.

I may have simply misread the GP and picked the wrong meaning, but I was going with this definition https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/whitewashing-words-...

[shkkmo]

Not only have I never heard that definition used, I don't see how that definition makes any sense in context. The older, more commonly used meaning is clearly the one being used here.

[flagrant_taco]

Well that is why I asked. I have heard whitewashing used quite a few times in this way, though usually in the context of film or TV. I very well could have just missed it in the moment.

Again, this is why I asked how it was the race-based version of whitewashing rather than immediately going into a debate. I wanted to clarify my understanding and see if I missed anything before jumping down someone's throat, would have been nice to get the same courtesy here.

[shkkmo]

You didn't ask for clarification on which meaning was used or even bother to lookup the term on your own first.

I fail so see how providing you with the correct meaning is "jumping down your throat".

[d-z-m]

Recently, it has also become a term of art in Hollywood to refer to what are deemed racially inaccurate castings.