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.

    • 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.

    • 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.