[erlang-questions] Coon - new tool for building Erlang packages, dependency management and deploying Erlang services

[Charles Hixson]

"Coon" is often used as a shortened name for the animal.  If you can 
definitely tell from context that that is what is meant, it isn't 
(usually) seen as a racial slur.  But you do need to know your 
audience.  If you don't, it's almost certain that a major fraction of 
them will consider the slur as a plausible meaning. And that's when the 
context implies that you mean "raccoon".


On 02/12/2018 08:52 AM, Chris Duesing wrote:
> I can't believe this "discussion" is happening. Coon is a racial slur, 
> there is no other use of the word. The fact that a bunch of white 
> Europeans are pointing out that the dozen people involved in this 
> thread aren't offended simply shows the lack of diversity in the 
> mailing list. The "oh I'm butthurt because other people get offended 
> by things" is fucking ridiculous. It is a racial slur, period. If this 
> isn't a library only intended to be used by racist fucks then rename it.
>
> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 10:28 AM, nx <nx@REDACTED 
> <mailto:nx@REDACTED>> wrote:
>
>     For what it's worth, the first thing I thought of when I saw the
>     title of this thread was "that is a racist slur". I've also never
>     heard anyone call a raccoon a coon.
>
>     The news that cowboy was named for "cowboys kill apaches" is
>     disappointing.
>
>     On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:22 AM Fred Hebert <mononcqc@REDACTED
>     <mailto:mononcqc@REDACTED>> wrote:
>
>         What I'm saying is that it does not matter how I interpret
>         things. I asked and the author said publicly it was a raccoon.
>         I'm okay with that explanation and I'm ready to believe it.
>
>         My point is that other people won't ask the author, won't know
>         who he is, and will pick an interpretation and stick with it.
>         They won't need the context, they won't need anything. They'll
>         just do it. The name can be interpreted in a racist way, and
>         so it's pretty much guaranteed that it will be eventually
>         interpreted that way. The author is free to go ahead and keep
>         the name, and the users and onlookers will be free to read
>         whatever they want in that name.
>
>         That is 100% my point.
>
>         On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:17 AM, Krzysztof Jurewicz
>         <krzysztof.jurewicz@REDACTED
>         <mailto:krzysztof.jurewicz@REDACTED>> wrote:
>
>             Fred Hebert writes:
>
>             > Anyone is of course free to name their software whatever
>             they want. Picking
>             > a racist name is however never going to be
>             consequences-free as this e-mail
>             > thread first shows on the first day of release, and
>             adoption figures may
>             > also reflect it.
>
>             Merriam-Webster online dictionary (naming itself as
>             “America’s most-trusted online dictionary”) says that
>             there two meanings of “coon”:
>
>             ⒈ raccoon;
>             ⒉ offensive — used as an insulting and contemptuous term
>             for a black person.
>
>             I presume that context matters. What makes you think that
>             in this context this word means ⒉? Wikipedia in the
>             article about raccoon says that is also known coloquially
>             as “coon”, so I guess this is not a very uncommon usage.
>
>             Or are you saying that non-racist usages of words that
>             have also racist meanings should be eventually abandoned?
>
>             (I’m not a native speaker, so bear with my eventual
>             ignorance).
>
>
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