Potential racism of "auction block"

[Mark A Mandel]

On Thu, 1 Aug 2002, Baker, John wrote:

# A second reason that "auction block" is not a taboo term is that its
#use does not necessarily have racist overtones.  If you say "We're
#going on a picnic," and it's understood that "picnic" can be a synonym
#for "lynching," the problems are self-evident.  "Spade" is a
#well-known racial insult, as is the supposed root of "niggardly."
#"The company has been put on the auction block" does not necessarily
#share these overtones, although it could if the company in question
#were perceived to be a primarily African-American institution.

FWIW, to the extent that I have thought about it at all, I have always
associated the term outside of slave auctions with banging down a gavel
on a block. I don't know whether gavels and blocks are or were actually
used at auctions, let alone the history of "auction block", but that's
the image the term evoked for me. If that is a common mental image, its
plausibility (at least while unexamined) may have forestalled the
association with slave auctions.

Just a wild-ass guess/musing.

-- Mark A. Mandel