Re: Master/Slave

[David Orr <whitears -at- INTERACCESS -dot- COM>]

I got the following personal response to a post I made on the
master/slave topic. I have the person's permission to share it with the
list.


>I am not on the TECHWR-L list, but I do read posts to the list from >time to
>time. I am an African-American technical writer and have been reading the
"Master/Slave" thread.

You write: "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."

A number of weeks ago, some members of my development team were standing
around a cubicle talking. There were various cross conversions going on.
In
one of the conversations, someone was discussing the master/slave
relationship of some computer equipment. The references were clearly
used
in the context of computer technology and there was no intent to use the
terms maliciously.

Was I offended? My dictionary describes offended as "to cause
difficulty,
discomfort, or injury. I admit that I did feel uncomfortable. So, I
guess I
was offended. So, to avoid having to hear the words repeatedly, I walked
away.

So, I don't know if the usage of master/slave offends most people with
slave ancestry.  I am, of course, only one person. However, I believe
that
most people with slave ancestry who are in a position where they have to
>read or listen to what might be, to them, offensive terms, have been
>through enough crap to get where they are that they don't even bother >to respond.

David Orr
Orr & Associates

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