Earlier I mentioned the political-correctness-driven situation in Los Angeles County, where vendors where asked not to use the designation “Master/Slave” for computer components.
According to this story (via Calpundit), things have gotten even worse. County employees were ordered to relabel more than 1,000 pieces of equipment, and now county officials have publicly gone on offense:
Dennis A. Tafoya, director of the affirmative action office, said an African-American employee who filed the complaint felt it was employment discrimination because the employee was working on video equipment with the label written on it. The office investigated and determined that the complaint did not involve employment discrimination, but the official recognized that the term could be perceived as offensive.
“The issue was the employee had to operate this equipment and look at the term ‘slave and master,’ and given their background as an African-American person, I imagine they had different feelings about it,” Tafoya said.
“We found the terms were antiquated and offensive to individuals and that a more reasonable term could be used. I think that’s what we should do. If it means culture change, then we have to begin someplace.
“This has got some people’s hair up on the back of their neck. They believe it’s a question of being politically correct. It’s not that at all. It’s an issue of valuing diversity, respect and dignity for the individual who comes to work here every day. The issue that resonates in different people’s minds is a very negative connotation.”
Respect and dignity for the individual? Is disk drive nomenclature now the battlefront for civil rights?
We’ve got far more important problems in America than this kind of stuff. A cause, such as racial equality, only has so much political capital to spend, so it’s important to pick the battles it fights wisely. This is a horrible choice.