Master/Slave verboten!

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 10:23:04 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>

[Note:  This item comes from reader Mike Cheponis.  DLH]

At 23:09 -0800 11/24/03, Mike Cheponis wrote:
> Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 23:09:45 -0800 (PST)
> From: Mike Cheponis <mac () wireless com>
> Subject: Master/Slave verboten!
>
> From: MBK
>
>
>
>
> <http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/master.asp>
>
> Claim:   The County of Los Angeles has requested that equipment vendors
> avoid using the industry term "Master/Slave" in product descriptions and
> labelling.
>
> Status:   True.
>
> Origins:   Social
> changes of our era have been accompanied by linguistic changes: as
> discrimination based upon race, gender, or physical condition has become
> less socially acceptable, we began to frown upon the use of pejorative
> terms associated with race, moved towards more gender-neutral usages of
> language (e.g., 'chairperson' instead of 'chairman'), and replaced terms
> for describing the disabled with less stigmatizing ones (e.g., 'mentally
> handicapped' rather than 'retarded').
>
> Along with these linguistic changes have come tales of the "political
> correctness run amok" variety - cases where certain usages were  deemed
> unacceptable merely because they bore a resemblance to terms now
> considered inappropriate, even though the usages had little or nothing
> in common with the now-inappropriate terms in a linguistic sense. For
> example, we've read of the 1999 incident in which a mayoral aide
> (temporarily) lost his job for using the word 'niggardly' in a staff
> meeting, even though the word's origins have nothing to do with race,
> and even though the aide used the word correctly (to mean 'miserly' or
> 'stingy'). Or we've heard the (possibly apocryphal) tale of a writer who
> was informed by his editor that his use of the hunting term 'duck blind'
> was unacceptable, as the preferred substitute for the latter word is now
> 'visually impaired.'
>
> How far we should take this linguistic sensitivity to social issues has
> long been a subject of (often heated) debate. Can female members of the
> fire department be referred to by the traditional title of 'fireman,' or
> does true gender equality require that they be identified as
> 'firewomen'? Is the existence of separate gender words for the same
> concept itself a form of gender discrimination, requiring us to adopt a
> neutral term such as 'fireperson' for everyone? Or should we just chuck
> the whole thing and call everybody 'firefighters'? What one group sees
> as socially progressive, another group is bound to view as a needless
> discarding of the familiar and traditional.
>
> Another example of this phenomenon surfaced recently in reference to
> 'master/slave,' a term commonly used in computing (and related
> industries) to describe the unidirectional control of one device or
> process by another. Equipment vendors who do business with Los Angeles
> County received a message in November 2003 from the county's Internal
> Services Department (ISD) informing them that "based on the cultural
> diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County," labeling or describing
> equipment with the term 'master/slave' is no longer acceptable:
>
> Subject: IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT SOLD TO LA COUNTY
> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:21:16 -0800
> From: "Los Angeles County"
>
> The County of Los Angeles actively promotes and is committed to ensure a
> work environment that is free from any discriminatory influence be it
> actual or perceived. As such, it is the County's expectation that our
> manufacturers, suppliers and contractors make a concentrated effort to
> ensure that any equipment, supplies or services that are provided to
> County departments do not possess or portray an image that may be
> construed as offensive or defamatory in nature.
>
> One such recent example included the manufacturer's labeling of
> equipment where the words "Master/Slave" appeared to identify the
> primary and secondary sources. Based on the cultural diversity and
> sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable
> identification label.
>
> We would request that each manufacturer, supplier and contractor review,
> identify and remove/change any identification or labeling of equipment
> or components thereof that could be interpreted as discriminatory or
> offensive in nature before such equipment is sold or otherwise provided
> to any County department.
>
> Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.
>
> Joe Sandoval, Division Manager
> Purchasing and Contract Services
> Internal Services Department
> County of Los Angeles
>
>
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>
> To verify that this wasn't a hoax or an internal joke which mistakenly
> escaped to the wider world of the Internet, we called the Purchasing and
> Contract Services division for the County of Los Angeles, and they
> informed us that yes, they did issue this message, and yes, it was meant
> seriously. The representative we spoke with said that someone within the
> County bureaucracy - a person who probably didn't understand computer
> terminology - had taken offense at 'master/slave' references and
> complained to the board, whereupon the Internal Services Department was
> obligated to issue notification requesting that vendors refrain from
> using that terminology.
>
> Whether this message reflects more a "socially progressive" change or
> one of the "needless discarding of the familiar and traditional" variety
> we couldn't say, but - much to the chagrin of several vendors who passed
> it along to us - the County of Los Angeles is apparently serious about
> it.
>
> Last updated:   24 November 2003

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