[R] Inappropriate color name

[Spencer Graves]

	  Might it be appropriate to raise that question on the Talk page 
associated with the Wikipedia article on "Indian red (color)":


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_red_(color)


	  Many Wikimedian are generally sympathetic to discussions of
political correctness and similar topics.  If the name of that article 
were changed, then it should be a lot easier to pursue a similar name 
change elsewhere.


	  Spencer Graves


On 2020-11-17 15:25, Mitchell Maltenfort wrote:
> What about just amputating the final "n?"
> 
> "Indian" might mean one of two things, but "India" is pretty distinct.
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 4:10 PM T. A. Milne via R-help <r-help using r-project.org>
> wrote:
> 
>>
>> Apologies to the list for continuing a thread which is clearly off-topic.
>> However, contacting the maintainer of an R package to complain about this
>> specific color name seems ill-considered.
>>
>> 1)  The name "indian red" is a part of widely-used color schemes
>> everywhere, not just in R.  It's the color defined as:
>>
>> "The color indianred / Indian red with hexadecimal color code #cd5c5c is a
>> shade of red. In the RGB color model #cd5c5c is comprised of 80.39% red,
>> 36.08% green and 36.08% blue. In the HSL color space #cd5c5c has a hue of
>> 0° (degrees), 53% saturation and 58% lightness. This color has an
>> approximate wavelength of 611.37 nm."
>>
>> https://encycolorpedia.com/cd5c5c
>>
>>
>> 2)  The "indian" in the color name refers to ferric oxide, historically
>> sourced from India.  Per Wikipedia:
>>
>> "The name Indian red derives from the red laterite soil found in India,
>> which is composed of naturally occurring iron oxides.[citation needed] The
>> first recorded use of Indian red as a color term in English was in 1672.[3"
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_red_(color)
>>
>>
>> Given the name refers to the locus of the ferric oxide source, It isn't
>> obvious that any particular group should be offended by the name.
>>
>>
>> --  T. Arthur Milne
>>
>>
>>> On Nov 16, 2020, at 5:46 PM, Rolf Turner <r.turner using auckland.ac.nz>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> On Tue, 17 Nov 2020 07:54:01 +1100
>>> Jim Lemon <drjimlemon using gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi Elaine,
>>>> There seems to be a popular contest to discover offence everywhere. I
>>>> don't think that it does anything against racism, sexism or
>>>> antidisestablishmentarianism. Words are plucked from our vast lexicon
>>>> to comfort or insult our fellows depending upon the intent of the
>>>> user. It is the intent that matters, not the poor word. Chasing the
>>>> words wastes your time, blames those who use the words harmlessly,
>>>> and gives the real offender time to find another epithet.
>>>>
>>> Jim:  This is superbly expressed.  I wish that I could have said
>>> that! Your posting should go down in the annals of brilliant rhetoric,
>>> alongside Dr. Johnson's "Letter to Lord Chesterfield".
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>>
>>> Rolf
>>>
>> You know, I wouldn’t have continued this thread (which has now wandered
>> off topic from the original somewhat-more-technical question), but I feel
>> now like it’s necessary to do so (and only fair, if anyone is considering
>> moderating me after letting these posts by):
>>
>> That is a view commonly held by white people, and even more overwhelmingly
>> by white men. Our field is already not as diverse as it should be for a
>> variety of reasons, and this “pretending no one else on earth exists” kind
>> of stuff is at least some part of the reason. The question at issue here
>> aside, white men complaining about people finding racism or sexism
>> everywhere they look doesn’t pass the sniff test. Most or all of these
>> things that people are reporting as offensive are being reported by people
>> you’re clearly not listening to.
>>
>> Further, impact is what matters. If I step on your foot, I apologize,
>> regardless of whether or not it was intentional, because it’s the right
>> thing to do. If someone tells you “that thing you’re saying is offensive or
>> is hurting me” and you say “I didn’t mean it,” and then keep right on doing
>> it, what does it say to the person on the receiving end of it? All anyone
>> that is being “blamed,” as you put it, is being asked to do is to try to do
>> better next time.
>>
>> --
>> #BlackLivesMatter
>> ____
>> || \\UTGERS,     |---------------------------*O*---------------------------
>> ||_// the State  |         Ryan Novosielski - novosirj using rutgers.edu
>> || \\ University | Sr. Technologist - 973/972.0922 (2x0922) ~*~ RBHS Campus
>> ||  \\    of NJ  | Office of Advanced Research Computing - MSB C630, Newark
>>       `'
>>
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>> ______________________________________________
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> 
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