It does actually bother me sometimes but I also don’t think something readily accepted by so many people is a name I’m going to ask changed for my personal preferences. No more so than I’m one of those people who take some issue with “Stay cool” originating with a slur on the Chinese part of my family.

I apologize if that’s the case. Certainly isn’t meant that way. Maybe I’m bracing myself for the chastising and it’s sneaking into the words. (Or maybe because I had voiced the “Mafia” thing at times over the years and it got blown off as my needing to loosen up...)

I need context help here. I just googled "stay cool" and I still don't know what connection that has to any slurs.

I didn't intend this to be the case, I was really wondering if it was just me that was uncomfortable with the term. And I think the fact that 8 people posted before you that it does make them uncomfortable or they do find it problematic should have some weight. If no one other than me or Kenny agreed on this issue, I would have been like, maybe I am being too sensitive and dropped it. And I do understand where you are coming from too. But honestly, I don't think I have ever heard lynch in real life and it not been related to killing black people.

Look up coolie. I learned this when reading Journey to the West.

No. I agree that the majourity does, indeed, carry weight and I don’t dispute that. I did think we were bouncing feelings on it and should have read the room better that voicing anything not being in with the numbers should probably not have been posted by me. I was even going to delete but Vlad had already responded. I was referring more to the fact that this couldn’t actually be a “discussion” because I feel anyone saying they’re ok with the term are going to be labeled going forward.

You never heard of someone refer to a “lynch mob” that was more in referral to wanting someone to step down from a position or correct a grievous mistake though there was no actual intent by the “mob” to kill?

Gira answered it but “coolies”. I just didn’t want to seem like I was ignoring you.

I was mainly referring to times it has actually happened and not used metaphorically. Whenever it is a white person, they are hung, not lynched.

You're making a false equivalency. There are plenty of terms that used to be considered fair game. But when people started to realize just how insensitive and hurtful the terms were, they were phased out. The word "lynch" has a long and traumatic history. The word "mafia" does not. While it may have been used as a slur against you, the actual Sicilian mafia were/are terrible. Comparing other criminal organizations to them is fair, as they often have similar structures and are similarly of a unified cultural make-up. Since scum in these games are organized and often share a similar theme, referring to them with the colloquial term for organized crime is apt. If you'd like for us to reexamine the terminology, we can do that too.

I'm sorry you and your family were discriminated against. But "mafia" does not carry nearly the connotations that "lynch" does. Just hearing "lynch" is enough to bring to mind generations of trauma experienced by Black people. Changing the word is a compassionate, and easy, choice.

Edit: Page of ninjas, and so I worry now this will come off as too lecturey. I'm not blowing off your feelings about the word "mafia." I'm open to replacing that word too.

Regional there. In the US, probably true. I know over in the sandbox or on assignments in central and South America they refer to lynching quite frequently and it’s, not surprisingly, referring to other ethnic groups.

The big thing in each is that it refers to it as an execution by a non-sanctioned group. I’m not trying to word lawyer. Just noting maybe my mind didn’t jump the same as your’s as I’ve encountered lynches - not hanging but lynches - in multiple parts of the world so, for me, a lynch had different connotations. Not good ones either, I’ll readily confess, but after all of these years I’ve tried to let the Realm-speak overrule memories.

Yeah. You might want to read on why the Mafia started before painting with that brush. Italians weren’t considered “white” in the US - even recently enough my family recalls growing up with friends and relatives told they had to live in certain parts of towns - and the Mafia used that as an in-road to “police” the neighborhoods the actual law enforcement refused to go to because the wops and dagos weren’t going to get their aid. They were also part of the forces against the fascists. But I’m not here to argue whether calling a criminal organization as better or worse than others makes it a broad ok term. It’s still a particular image that comes to peoples minds.

I have many friends who work in social justice, and they have put forth lists of words that have racial connotations that your average white person may not be aware of. Hearing them speak about how simply hearing such words can make them feel, even in a different context, has made me more careful about my word selection. It's not for us to tell others how words should make them feel. And its hard to argue that someone hearing the word in question wouldn't be reminded of generational trauma.

I agree but I feel it’s what you tried to do with me regarding the use of the word “Mafia”.

I don’t mind removing “lynch” - my original comment didn’t even say keep it - but I do think something like “remove” or just “vote” is the way to go versus a form of execution.

Yeah, I was surprised to learn a few months ago that "Long Time, No See" and "No Can Do" have racist origins, and after thinking about it, it made complete sense, and since then even though I don't think anyone really sees them as racist nowadays, have stopped using them.

I know the university where my brother teaches has, for years, prohibited professors from “long time, no see”. Not an important point but a piece of trivia I thought you would find interesting.