The neologism 'whitelist' as the opposite of blacklist is a false formation.
Black in blacklist (a word first recorded in 1620) is there because we have long used 'black' as a negative term:'Things are not as black as they seem', 'she gave him black looks' ,'black comedy', 'blackleg' 'black market'. Try substituting 'white' in those. They make no opposite sense; we wouldn't say them because 'white' as a colour has not had the positive meanings that black has as a negative.
Not difficult to see why. Night and darkness, lack of daylight, is seen as negative, depressing, bad, associated with death.
Black for a skin colour is only one of its uses. But people have been defined by it as they have by white. Since 'white' is a term for white-skinned people and black for black-skinned and white is not the opposite of white in most contexts (see above) 'whitelist' sounds racist. But it tells more about the sensitivity of those who would ban it than about any actual racist thought it conveys.
It ought to be banned on the ground that it is not a good formation, not a proper opposite, in English, of blacklist, not for any other reason.