Just because a word is widely understood doesn't make it inoffensive. I'm sure we can all think of many historical examples of words that were once common but are now almost never used because they are understood to be offensive.

> pretty universal association that only the truly sheltered and privileged could miss.

uhhhh, is this gaslighting?

it is considered privileged to never have introspection on these universal associations

No, that's not what gaslighting is. Gaslighting is when you deny an obvious truth. To attempt to convince someone that what they saw or experienced did not happen as they saw or experienced it.

To me, the thing I was replying to is a reinterpretation of privilege and denying a common reality. I know a lot of people that try to address how white/black terminology exacerbates disproportional civil rights abuses by race based on the unrelated good/bad association and would say it is privilege to not notice that or consider reconciling it.

Assuming that was intentional, perhaps there is a better word. Assuming it was not intentional, then its just odd.