Sandy,
Yes, we humans can easily adapt to change ... if we make the effort
Family/friends' adaptation to a relative's sudden new gender is evidence,
at least at the simpler name change level, as from "Max" to "Maxine"
(but "Max" to "Miranda" is more difficult adaptation).
Apparently, there has to be some yielding (atonement) to be satisfying
to those perceiving offense from current name/term association.

Interestingly, slavery existed millennia before race became an issue
Re:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay ... t-slavery/
"it was nearly 9,000 years ago that slavery first appeared, in Mesopotamia (6800 B.C.).
Enemies captured in war were commonly kept by the conquering country as slaves."
"Egyptian pharaohs enslaved the Israelites ... pagan Greeks participated in slavery ...
slavery was an ever-present feature of the Roman world ... African slaves were being sold
to Arab households in a Muslim world ... common in England’s rural, agricultural economy,
with the poor yoking themselves to their landowners through a form of debt bondage ..."

Considering how much history has to be rewritten to atone for 9,000 years of slavery,
symbolic name changes of modern institutions seems justifiable - even cathartic.
Re:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery
"Many of the patriarchs portrayed in the Bible were from the upper echelons of society"
This hints that we humans temper wokeness when seeking atonement of slavery
... lest we soon be persuaded to rewrite parts of the Bible
Rod
