www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/26/master.term.reut/index.html
LOS ANGELES, California Reuters - Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms master and slave on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive. The request - which has some suppliers furious and others busy re-labeling components - came after an unidentified worker spotted a videotape machine carrying devices labeled master and slave and filed a discrimination complaint with the countys Office of Affirmative Action Compliance. In the computer industry, master and slave are used to refer to primary and secondary hard disk drives. Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label, Joe Sandoval, division manager of purchasing and contract services, said in a memo sent to County vendors. We would request that each manufacturer, supplier and contractor review, identify and remove/change any identification or labeling of equipment components that could be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive in nature, Sandoval said in the memo, which was distributed last week and made available to Reuters. Dennis Tafoya, director of the affirmative action office, said in a separate memo that an exhaustive search had been undertaken to find all such labels and replace them with more appropriate ones. A form was sent to all departments to identify equipment carrying the labels master and slave or any other offensive terms. Faced with an avalanche of complaints from vendors and the general public, Sandoval told Reuters in an interview that his memo was intended as nothing more than a request and not an ultimatum or policy change. I do understand that this term has been an industry standard for years and years and this is nothing more than a plea to vendors to see what they can do, he said. It appears that some folks have taken this a little too literally. Sandoval said that he had already rejected a suggestion that the county stop buying all equipment carrying the master and slave labels and had no intention of enforcing a ban on such terms with suppliers. But we are culturally sensitive and we have 90,000 employees, he said. Sandoval added that in addition to the e-mails hes received telling me how stupid I am and how I should be fired he has gotten a positive response from some companies willing to reexamine their labels. In June, the Los Angeles city council unanimously passed a law requiring that any companies doing business with the city disclose profits they may have made from slavery in the 19th Century. In 2000, the council supported federal legislation seeking reparations for descendants of slaves. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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