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> David and everybody else who likes master-slave: I'm glad all these
> phrases are harmless where you live. But I live and work within miles of
> many old plantations, and in our offices every day black people whose folks
> were chattel on those plantations work side by side with people whose folks
> owned them. They do not appreciate this terminology nor should they have
> to be subjected to it while going about their work. There is a difference
> between absurdist political correctness and obsolete careless language
> which is unnecessary. The English language is a vast thing and we can and
> should come up with something better than old people-owning terminology for
> linked databases, and better than Ren and Stimpy.
>
> Pat Mason
> Jackson, MS
> patgmason -at- aol -dot- com
If a person or identifiable group of people mind being called by a
certain name, I think they have the right to be called whatever they
want. This preference shifts over time, e.g., n--, colored, Negro,
black, African American. Hey, you can call me David, or you can call me
Dave, but don't you dare call me Marion (my first name).
Also, I think that if it can be proven by survey or some other
semi-scientific way that use of certain terms definitely offends a large
portion of a specific group, out of politeness, we ought to refrain from
using these terms. I personally doubt that master/slave used in the
context of computer technology offends most people with slave ancestry.
But I could be dead wrong.
So I ask Pat, on what basis do you make the statement you did about how
people feel in your part of the country? Is this your opinion, or do you
have broader, non-anecdotal evidence?
David Orr
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