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Comment by flagrant_taco | Hacker News Reader

Can you help me understand how this is whitewashing exactly? I guess you could invent a term like poor-washing, but where did race come into this?

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The term "whitewashing", like many uses of the color "white" has nothing to do with race. Rather, it is a metaphor referencing a type of paint.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewashing_(censorship)

Recently, it has also become a term of art in Hollywood to refer to what are deemed racially inaccurate castings.

There are many meanings to the term whitewashing, including applying a semitransparent white finish to wood.

I may have simply misread the GP and picked the wrong meaning, but I was going with this definition https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/whitewashing-words-...

Not only have I never heard that definition used, I don't see how that definition makes any sense in context. The older, more commonly used meaning is clearly the one being used here.

Well that is why I asked. I have heard whitewashing used quite a few times in this way, though usually in the context of film or TV. I very well could have just missed it in the moment.

Again, this is why I asked how it was the race-based version of whitewashing rather than immediately going into a debate. I wanted to clarify my understanding and see if I missed anything before jumping down someone's throat, would have been nice to get the same courtesy here.

You didn't ask for clarification on which meaning was used or even bother to lookup the term on your own first.

I fail so see how providing you with the correct meaning is "jumping down your throat".

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