> I don't understand why there's so much pushback

Many reasons, including a very (distorted) US centric view of the world, going overboard with emotions instead of rationality (words are generally tied to context), and now people have to walk on eggshells or they'll lose their jobs if they speak the "wrong" word.

You can't talk about rationality whilst talking about a country centric view.

Rational actions are defined by the society that judges it.

Twitter is an American company.

If you feel like you have to "walk on eggshells" then maybe you're not a cultural fit for the company.

If you're working at a company like Twitter, GitHub etc. Then you should have some pretty good career mobility.

These companies aren't the only ones in the world.

If you want to work at a place that will push back against changing master / slave terminology then there's a sizable amount of people that feel the same way.

I'm not sure what your first few points have anything to do with the discussion, not to mention being incorrect (rationality is not objective as you're implying). This irrational SJW movement is not limited to a few companies, but is taking over the US in general. It's another form of oppression.

I think you didn't understand what I was stating.

I stated that what is rational is subjective of the context of the culture.

You don't have a right to a job, it's not oppression if people do things you don't like that don't impact your life.

Using "SJW" unironically? How is it taking over the US when the majority of government is socially conservative?

You're effectively parroting the majority opinion and acting like the victim.

"I gotta walk on eggshells, if I say the wrong word they'll fire me"

You are effectively telling someone if they don’t like it leave. This is actually quite offensive in itself.

I do not agree with the premise that these words in context are problematic, many others do not agree with it either.

If many others do not agree, then why not just work at a company where they won't change terminology for cultural sensitivity reasons?

People are concerned, correctly, that it's not such a small change and won't be limited to only terms as offensive as "master/slave". Twitter announced that it's also avoiding the phrases "guys", "sanity check", and "dummy value".

I don't understand why it offends people. I understand that anything linguistically tied to America's race issues is becoming taboo and this is now A New Rule, but I still don't get the mental process that's going on inside the minds of the offended, or feel the emotional response that they feel.

That's quite a scary thing, not because I have a problem with renaming words that make other people feel bad, but because I don't understand why they feel bad in the first place. That means I can't predict what's going to happen next or whether I'm doing something wrong that I don't know about but will get me fired. The whole thing is confusing and strange and unpredictable, and I can't tell whether it's going to end in civil rights, civil war, or just be a storm in a teacup.

I'm guessing people who are dismissive of e.g. Github renaming master branches are feeling the same way and lashing out.

> It makes people uncomfortable and it's such a small change.

Not a small change, and gay people also make some people uncomfortable, does not follow we should remove them ... so ... what?