*sighs wearily*
Barracoon is the anglicized version of the Spanish word barracón and referred to barracks housing slaves or criminals. They were used primarily for the slave trade, and yes, shamefully, the US was the likely destination for the vast majority of those they held captive. The last 4 letters of the word are a racial slur directly derived from the larger word.
The dark stain of slavery and racism isn't unique to the history of the U.S. Many European countries engaged in the exploitation of their fellow humans. However, some in the U.S. have a bizarre tendency to romanticize, or, worse, grotesquely celebrate the worst parts of its past.
Why would we want any of that to leak into the escapist, Virtue-based fantasy world of Sosaria? The champ has zero historical significance to Ultima, no backstory, and hasn't been otherwise changed.
This isn't the first time that UO has changed a name, it happened back in 1998 with the Zog Cabal being renamed to the Followers of Armageddon. Zog does have a history in Ultima, but OSI recognized the negative real-world connotations of the name they were using for the Big Bad. That name change didn't have any impact on gameplay either.
Again, if it bothers you to consider the thoughts/feelings of others as equal to your own...it's you who has the problem.
BTW: Attempting to compare the words "whip" and "boat" to barracoon is just a false equivalence and lame whatboutism.
Thou hath lost multiple eighths.
