From Yoshida himself

[DaikiKiyoshi]

There is an argument to be made in that there was both a decent amount of players that desired a pure healer, which White Mages have traditionally been in the Final Fantasy canon, and that healer players that want to be more still have Astrologian and Scholar.

I don't actually like the argument, but it's still a counter point. These overarching changes to all the jobs slammed White Mage into dead last of the meta.

I understand that Yoshi-P is frustrated, but us complaining that what we're seeing in the early versions isn't adding up.

I'm sorry, what Final Fantasy canon? Even in the older games White Mages still had damage dealing spells such as Dia and Holy.

In some games White Mages could damage undead enemies WITH their heals.