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Many insect, animal names are racist, scholars say — so it's time for a change ... No more slave-maker ants? Gypsy moths?
https://www.theblaze.com ^ | August 03, 2020 | SARAH TAYLOR

Posted on 06/30/2021 10:48:22 AM PDT by Red Badger

Some scholars aren't happy with the "problematic" insect and animal names, and are calling for a large-scale reform.

What are people saying about this? "There is no room for racism in science," University of Arizona Ph.D. candidate Earyn McGee — one of the scholars calling for reform — tells The College Fix in a statement.

McGee, also a herpetologist, also says that she is firmly against honoring "racist people or racial slurs by naming animals after them."

McGee adds she has high hopes for a new name for the Yarrow's Spiny Lizard — since celebrated ornithologist and herpetologist H.C. Yarrow was a Union soldier during the Civil War as well as a eugenicist.

"There is no amount of scientific contributions that can make unabashed racism and bigotry OK," she adds.

She insists that while some questionable people have, indeed, made scientific contributions, their names and discoveries should be discussed with full disclosure into their past actions.

"If you must acknowledge them, you can say something like 'X person discovered X thing, however it is important to note they also did this bigoted thing and that type of behavior is unacceptable for scientists," she said.

'Gypsy moths,' 'Faggotworms,' 'Yarrow's Spiny Lizard' The organization reports that some of the more concerning names include the slave-maker ant, the rape bug, the gypsy moth, and even more.

The Fix points out that in July, the American Association for the Advancement of Science shared a comprehensive list featuring at least 60 names that scholars say should be changed to something more inclusive and less offensive.

One questionable term is "hottentot" — or its Latin form, "hottentatus" — as the report's authors insist it is a "racial slur used by white people, directed toward indigenous Africans during apartheid."

The setophaga townsendi — or the Townsend's Warbler, a bird — is also problematic because "[Ornithologist] John Townsend was terrible."

The Fix points out that the name is especially nefarious, as Townsend studied bird species in Oregon, and would often "rely on Native Americans to capture his specimens."

"During his studies," the outlet continued, "he would describe cultural differences and steal skulls from Indian graves."

Other offending names include the Large Faggotworm, though its name is derived from "its definition as a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel."

You can read some of the names and why they are offensive in the graphics below.



TOPICS: Gardening; History; Pets/Animals; Society
KEYWORDS:
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To: Red Badger
Dung Beetle should be renamed the Obama Beetle, for real:


21 posted on 06/30/2021 11:12:26 AM PDT by Slyfox (Not my circus, not my monkeys)
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To: Red Badger

This is just silly!


22 posted on 06/30/2021 11:12:56 AM PDT by maxwellsmart_agent (O)
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To: Red Badger

In the next 90-180 days they will declare “year zero”. Everything prior will be deemed racist.


23 posted on 06/30/2021 11:13:37 AM PDT by Fitzy_888 ("ownership society")
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To: Red Badger

The idiocy never ends.


24 posted on 06/30/2021 11:15:18 AM PDT by rdl6989 ( )
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To: Red Badger
Have some Brazil nuts Ms McGee!(any relation to Fibber and Molly...er, I don't think so?).


25 posted on 06/30/2021 11:16:27 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Red Badger

Raccoons? and those hats with the tails?


26 posted on 06/30/2021 11:16:29 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan (My tagline is in the shop.)
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To: ifinnegan
"...University of Arizona Ph.D. candidate Earyn McGee..."


27 posted on 06/30/2021 11:20:59 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Red Badger
Well, since

Cheese is racist

I suppose we should not be surprised to learn that bugs are also racists.

🙄

28 posted on 06/30/2021 11:21:08 AM PDT by Pajamajan ( PRAY FOR OUR NATION. I will never be a peaceful slave in a new Socialist America.)
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To: Red Badger

It won’t matter if you change every name, remove every statue, pony up $trillions in “reparations”. Nothing will make it stop until we say enough, and say it with force.


29 posted on 06/30/2021 11:21:45 AM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: Bonemaker

ISWYDT.........................


30 posted on 06/30/2021 11:22:29 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

31 posted on 06/30/2021 11:35:48 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Red Badger

Another professional and eternal victim just desperate to be offended.


32 posted on 06/30/2021 11:38:23 AM PDT by Bayan
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To: Red Badger

If this is not a parody, it should be.


33 posted on 06/30/2021 11:46:43 AM PDT by AndyTheBear
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To: Red Badger
What about whip snakes?


34 posted on 06/30/2021 12:17:42 PM PDT by rfp1234 (Comitia asinorum et rhinocerum delenda sunt.)
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To: Red Badger
Some dogs act like greedy socialist democrats:


35 posted on 06/30/2021 12:41:47 PM PDT by 4Liberty (Honest GOP can't use legal means because Dems use illegal ones (threats). The Robert Creamer Party! )
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To: a fool in paradise

How to get rid of red ants. Spray paint half the red ants black. The red ants move and the black ants that stay behind kill each-other.


36 posted on 06/30/2021 1:29:31 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: Red Badger

Maybe slave-maker ants could be known as Overseer Ants.🙂


37 posted on 06/30/2021 1:29:41 PM PDT by Free in Texas (Celebrate diversity. Own firearms of every caliber. )
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To: Red Badger

The World is coming apart at the seams , where’s that Giant Comet to put an end to this


38 posted on 06/30/2021 1:29:44 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Red Badger

Soon there will be no more Tits and Boobies.


39 posted on 06/30/2021 1:30:15 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: seabeeson

Copulating at the lower percentile of the Bell Curve? PC of course.


40 posted on 06/30/2021 1:35:52 PM PDT by Free in Texas (Celebrate diversity. Own firearms of every caliber. )
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