It sounds way less offensive to those who decry the original terminology’s problematic roots but still keeps its meaning intact.

  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    this is actually a terminology that i would be interested on seeing the historical context for actually. My assumption has always been light based “whitelist referring to a well lit room, where as blacklist refers to a completely dark room” making things easy/hard to find as a a result.

    It could also literally just be a coincidence and it simply sounded better for the allow list to be whitelisted, and the deny list to be blacklisted, humans have weird connections to words like that.

    • ultramaven@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      Fucking thermodynamics is racist guys

      Black absorbs, white reflects

      Blackhole, sun

      fuck these people

    • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      If I had to guess, it’s just the general “white=good black=bad” which itself is likely related to day/night.

      But it’s easy to imagine a bouncer at a club with a list of whites allowed in and blacks that aren’t. I don’t think that’s the etymology, but it’s also important to remember that language is alive and words can take on unintended meaning.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        But it’s easy to imagine a bouncer at a club with a list of whites allowed in and blacks that aren’t. I don’t think that’s the etymology, but it’s also important to remember that language is alive and words can take on unintended meaning.

        that seems like an oddly specific origination for that specific term, but it’s certainly a possibility. But as with words being alive and taking on unintended meanings, it’s also equally likely that it became skin color agnostic at some point, and the term stuck because it was already being used.

          • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            4 months ago

            yeah no i understand, i’m just saying that’s a potential point where i could’ve originated and then morphed over time. Even if it was founded on race originally, it’s not super likely it would matter today in any broader contexts.

            • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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              4 months ago

              Idk if that’s for white folks like me (and you?) to decide, and there is no harm on erring on the side of caution.

              It’s like the deal with micro-aggressions. Alone they’re not much, but a constant buildup of these little things can leave someone feeling raw and very sensitive to it.

              I don’t think the etymology started with race, I think it started with day/night. But I’m not an expert on etymology, and while I’m very curious, it probably doesn’t really matter here.

              • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                4 months ago

                Idk if that’s for white folks like me (and you?) to decide, and there is no harm on erring on the side of caution.

                yeah, probably not, and that’s why i tend to err on the side of these discussions not being very productive. As for erring on the side of caution, idk. I’m not really sure theres that much caution even present to begin with. It might even be sufficient enough to just not use the terms around specific people per their request, or not at all, who knows.

                It’s like the deal with micro-aggressions. Alone they’re not much, but a constant buildup of these little things can leave someone feeling raw and very sensitive to it.

                i think my problem, is that people have a very analytical and sterile approach to these things. In terms of classifying and denoting things micro aggressions as a term makes sense. But from a broader societal perspective, i think it’s useless, if not negatively impactful.

                It’s better to identity specific facets of society that are problematic, for example treatment and behavior of certain people differently from others, as opposed to “treating the symptom” so to speak.

                I don’t think the etymology started with race, I think it started with day/night. But I’m not an expert on etymology, and while I’m very curious, it probably doesn’t really matter here.

                it really could’ve been from anything, but at the end of the day whatever it started from is irrelevant to it’s use case today, and anybody using it to be offensive is offensive for other reasons at that point.

    • Squirrelanna@lemmynsfw.com
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      4 months ago

      For most people it’s a lot more simple and subconscious than that. White=positive, black=negative. Most people do not consciously apply this to race, but they don’t have to for the subconscious association to take root.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        i would assume it’s more accurately interpreted as “white=allowed, and black=denied” but in order for that to transmit to your subconscious racism i feel like you probably need to be racist already.