But, like all things, this topic also got a healthy dose of backward-looking race-washing, and now people are speculating that we went from “blackboard” to “greenboard” to avoid racism.
So two things are probably more true:
Around this time a few feral activists we’re running around bitching about “blackboard” being racist.
A bunch of people today are thinking a lot more shit had to do with race than it actually did, back when black people had a lot more to worry about than a bunch of white people calling a black thing black.
And in reality, a company produces a cheaper green board, so the language changes. The activists claim a tiny victory as the word changes, everybody forgets, and then a bunch of fresh feral activists go nuts again when they hear the word “black” in a sentence that has nothing to do with people of color.
There’s not a lot of easily found info on it, but common explanation is that a move from black slate to green enamel coat on steel caused the change.
https://www.rd.com/article/blackboards-green-not-black/
But, like all things, this topic also got a healthy dose of backward-looking race-washing, and now people are speculating that we went from “blackboard” to “greenboard” to avoid racism.
So two things are probably more true:
Around this time a few feral activists we’re running around bitching about “blackboard” being racist.
A bunch of people today are thinking a lot more shit had to do with race than it actually did, back when black people had a lot more to worry about than a bunch of white people calling a black thing black.
And in reality, a company produces a cheaper green board, so the language changes. The activists claim a tiny victory as the word changes, everybody forgets, and then a bunch of fresh feral activists go nuts again when they hear the word “black” in a sentence that has nothing to do with people of color.