
Changing racist words in tech is not enough - boomcheeboom
https://medium.com/@OberonAlex/changing-racist-words-in-tech-is-dangerous-3b0f94c79d70
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jfengel
At best, the language changes are a way to do something fast. Changing hiring
practices takes a long time.

Even the suggestions in the article don't make it quick, because you can't
really completely blind hiring. People still end up making assumptions --
assumptions they don't often realize they're making. Much of the time, there
aren't even any people of color in on the decision making process. It becomes
self-perpetuating, even if people go in with the best intentions.

Fixing that means getting a diversity of people making decisions, not just
hiring. That's not easy, since you tend to want more experienced people at the
top levels, people you're comfortable with -- and again, self-propagating.

So I wouldn't take the language changes as completely meaningless, in
themselves. They're kind of a natural reaction to the fact that real change is
frustrating and slow. They're only meaningless when they come as a substitute
for the work.

