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OffensiveTechTerms.md

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What to do about common technology terms that have racist connotations

Notes on this topic -- I don't know where the content of this file will go.

In the summer of 2020, after officer Derek Chauvin spent nine nonchalant minutes and 29 seconds killing handcuffed, unarmed and face-down George Floyd in public and on camera, social unrest helped some to empathize with those experiencing a long legacy of violence and countless other injustices at the hands of police and others. For too long this occurred in the context of widespread apathy across United States and beyond. This new thread of empathy is expressed across many facets of society, including tech in all its forms.

There are a number of computer engineering terms that evoke racist history, like "master" and "slave" and "whitelist" and "blacklist." Their use can be painful to some and discourage their participation in and their advancement in tech. There are alternatives -- see the excellent RFC Draft by Mallory Knodel and Niels ten Oever on this topic. A few examples for illustration:

Area Legacy Suggestion(s)
Source code control master main
Database master source, primary, main
Database slave replica
Validation whitelist allowlist, permitlist
Validation blacklist denylist
Pipeline(Jenkins?) master controller
Pipeline(Jenkins?) slave agent or worker
Firewall(IPTables?) blacklist denylist
Firewall(IPTables?) whitelist permitlist, allowlist

When we use metaphors, we use terms regarded as representative or symbolic of the real target of our attention. We expect that the reader/listener will understand the literal meaning of our term and then be able to map that understanding to the present context. If we use hurtful or exclusionary terms as metaphors we devalue those harmed populations. This equation is not required. We are not prisoners of inertia. Language matters. Carefully, sensitively, reviewing our use of metaphor seems like a prudent practice in business -- where successful collaboration and marketing demand positive relationships and where brand & image are foundational. It seems like the-right-thing-to-do in the rest of our lives as well.

We cannot, though, depend on businesses to just do-the-right-thing. In most business contexts, this will require policies, incentives, and leadership. It seems practical for businesses to create actionable policy regarding problematic language (some already have a start in place). For most, this will not be easy. But it will not advance until it starts. And even then it will require an ongoing process, not just a static publication.

Anyone involved in coding has an opportunity to help on this front. Replace the "master" branch naming convention with "main" (or some other convention more appropriate for your situation) throughout your environment.

Here is one way to rename your legacy github repo 'master' branch to 'main'...

git branch -m master main
git fetch origin
git branch -u origin/main main
git remote set-head origin -a

QUOTES:

Kate Conger (2021-04-13) Some of their databases were called “masters” and were surrounded by “slaves,” which received information from the masters and answered queries on their behalf, preventing them from being overwhelmed. Others used “whitelists” and “blacklists” to filter content.

Charles M. Blow (2021-05-02) "And the precise way we phrase the statement makes all the difference: America's systems — like its criminal justice, education and medical systems — have a pro-white/anti-Black bias, and an extraordinary portion of America denies or defends those biases."

REFERENCES