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.
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.