Is Minstrel a racist term?

[sammie96]

We have recently adopted a cat who came with the name Minstrel. It is black and white.
I’m not entirely comfortable with the name so want to try and change it but my children are adamant it stays the same. They obviously aren’t aware of ‘The Minstrel Show’ and it’s racist association and until I looked further into the name it is also a term used for a certain sexual act! How can I explain all this? AIBU?

The word isn't racist, it has a previously extant and separate meaning beyond that dreadful TV show.

But the context - the TV show, the colour of the cat, the original owners apparently living in a different century - yeah, using it as a name for this cat is definitely racist.

I think we can safely assume that these days someone will find virtually any name/term racist, if they would care to go back far enough in our history.

It's all getting ridiculous. Keep the name op.

I would be changing it. Basically you have got a black and white minstrel. Its the reference back to the programme which is offensive, not the word itself.

Its not ridiculous to want to forget about the days when we had programmes like that. Tell the kids new home = new name.