"Audio on Linux can still be a pain in the ass, but at least it won't offend you now," said this first comment in Phoronix Forums last night. We also discussed this in IRC. The context of this comment was the article "Linux Sound Subsystem Begins Cleaning Up Its Terminology To Meet Inclusive Guidelines" (as if many people even read that code).

"Looking at the details in Phoronix, they're removing words like "blacklist" -- words that were never intended to be ethnic in connotation at all (and only a racist would interpret them as such).""The slaves in ALSA have been freed," Ryan joked. MinceR said, "broken software offends me, so they'd better get to work..."

Looking at the details in Phoronix, they're removing words like "blacklist" -- words that were never intended to be ethnic in connotation at all (and only a racist would interpret them as such). We previously noted that the colour red too can be viewed as "racist" and a reader sent us this article this morning, entitled "I am Native American and a former football player. Our history is much darker than racist mascots."

"Corrections are being done at a rather superficial level, appeasing not necessarily the victims."To quote the summary, as the reader did: "I am Native American and a former football player. Our history is much darker than racist mascots," says the headline. "An NFL team changing its name does nothing to address the role of Indigenous people in the game’s legacy." (to be included in Daily Links later along with "Michael Bennett Thinks the NFL Is Starting to Wake Up")

When one examines the motivations, it's largely corporate and financial, as the above article notes. It's about money, not about tackling racism. Corrections are being done at a rather superficial level, appeasing not necessarily the victims.

"This "ordered violence" (NFL) is funded by the Pentagon (partly at least) to help recruit people who then bomb people of colour in other countries."To quote the article sent to us: "While the retirement of the Washington name culminates decades of activism from Indigenous peoples across the country, it is also hard knowing that this change — primarily motivated by the loss of financial sponsorships like FedEx — has taken so long to secure. It also reflects the most-highlighted role that Indigenous peoples have played in America’s favorite sport — as mascots rather than actual people."

So it's about money. Further, as the author puts it: "But as my body tells me after years of the game, football, in its basest form, is ordered violence."

This "ordered violence" (NFL) is funded by the Pentagon (partly at least) to help recruit people who then bomb people of colour in other countries. Here are the concluding words from the author, berating the corporate motivations of the move:

I’m thankful today that the name has changed. For a franchise in America’s most popular sport to recognize its harm and perform a course correction is valuable. But this was not done out of an elevation of moral or ethical conduct. There has been no acknowledgement that the origins of the game itself are a part of football’s racist involvement in Indigenous history. At some point, the financial cost of maintaining the name outweighed keeping it. So it changed.

It is worth noting that the team’s financial consideration has only come about because of the protests against police violence on Black Americans. But if there is a football season this fall, there will still be racist mascots in the game. There will still be worrying rates of chronic injuries to a largely Black player base. There will be no guarantee that the stardom afforded those Black players will protect them from brutality off the field. I believe that we, as a football collective and as a nation, are reforming. I wonder if we are transforming and healing.

Football has been a notable part of my life and the lives of my family members. But I cannot pretend that it does not bring out some of our worst communal instincts. So I have to ask, after the games are played and we turn off our televisions and collectively look at our reflections on the screen, do we like what we see?

"Deeper institutional changes are needed; changing words might make one feel good, but when those who push for it, e.g. the Linux Foundation, are never hiring any African-Americans it means they're good only with words, not deeds."There's a longstanding controversy about that too; as one article explains: "The term is widely used by Spurs fans in reference to the club’s Jewish roots, but many Jewish football supporters insist it’s offensive and singing it gives rival fans an excuse to use the word abusively."

They were originally adopting the slur to mock their critics; getting rid of this name won't end antisemitism because it's vastly more complex a problem than anything that's reducible to 'word bans'.

Deeper institutional changes are needed; changing words might make one feel good, but when those who push for it, e.g. the Linux Foundation, are never hiring any African-Americans it means they're good only with words, not deeds. ⬆