Come on guys, 2026 and you still using "blacklist". Why not BlockList?
Reminds me of [1]twitch.tv trying to remove "blind playthrough" as a tag to encourage inclusive language.
1. https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/k7dvgw/twitch_remov...
Unfortunately, MANY people still think this is nonsense and shouldn't be given attention. What you don't understand is that you subtly say that things from Black people are bad and things from white people are good. Do you know what that causes in the end?
A company "of Black people" applies for YC and has a higher chance of being rejected than a company of/for white people, even if it's a necessary solution. You doubt it? Try it!
I'm saying that changing words like "blacklist" or "master" is purely performative and actually quite selfish. People do it to feel good about themselves for "helping" without actually having to do anything helpful. It's the moral equivalent of sending "thoughts and prayers".
If changing a word is "purely performative," then keeping it is also purely performative. The difference is that one choice preserves a metaphor of domination and the other does not. Technology is made of choices. This is one too.
That means I won't bother fighting changes that became established before I was born. I most definitely doesn't mean I have to go along with every change I see proposed now.
> If there are equivalent technical alternatives that don't carry a history of oppression
Words are not oppression.
Do you recognize that you live in a system that produces racial inequality today?
If the answer is yes, then there is some level of participation, albeit minimal. Because living in a structure is already being inside it.
If you are white, your ancestors did this. They created separation and made simple words dehumanize people. So yes, you and everyone else has a chance to make amends. The choice is yours.
It cost time and coding work to make the change.
The only point I'm making is that (as a Black person) I have the authority to tell you that it's important and how I feel. You can defend whatever you want, I'm just communicating and SUGGESTING that you change the term.
What I find funny is that many here argue that we can't even SUGGEST. And they still say they're in favor of democracy. Oh, okay!
Blacklist it is, for me.
Eu-based, fwiw. As i grew up we were coloUred, for a while, and then 'black' became the easy way to descibe ourselves.