this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2025
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I know it doesn't matter, and is fully a side issue to this post, but I hate that "blacklist" gets brought into this. It's never been used to be "a list of black people" or something; that wasn't the original meaning, and that's not the modern intention. It's just a word that sounds like maybe it could have been racist in origin, but it wasn't. And that one makes me grumpy just as an annoying word person.
The real hot take was that we used the term black and white for people at all! If we could go back to the past and make it so we call it, like, Affo and Euro or something, whatever, it would have cleared up a lot of unrelated term confusion.
I mean, if we could go back and change things there's maybe some other stuff that would be more important to change... but among the changes I would make are those!
The problem is “black” being used in a negative context while at the same time “white” is being used in a positive context. It reinforces racial stereotypes specifically because that is the language we also use for race. Language and psychology are inseparable.
“Block list” and “allow list” are clearer and less ambiguous anyway, and just make more sense.
@BlameTheAntifa @psycotica0
red list green list?
brown list rainbow list?
clear list pink list?
no list yes list?
One list, two list, red list, blue list
(I genuinely thought that was where you were going with that for a line or two)