Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Dozens of bird names honoring enslavers and racists will be changed
Wash Post ^ | 11/1/2023

Posted on 11/01/2023 11:26:55 AM PDT by Altura Ct.

The American Ornithological Society says it will alter the names of North American birds named after humans, starting with up to 80 of them

After two years of discussion and debate, the nation’s premier birding organization has decided that birds should not have human names.

The American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday that it will remove names given to North American birds in honor of people and replace them with monikers that better describe their plumage and other characteristics. The group said it will prioritize birds whose names trace to enslavers, white supremacists and robbers of Indigenous graves. Among them is one of the most famous birders in U.S. history, John James Audubon.

“There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today,” the society’s president, Colleen Handel, said in a statement. “We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves.”

Sometime next year, the society is expected to appoint a committee to explore up to 80 new names. The move, at an organization known for its reluctance to rename birds, was surprising even to the activists within the group who requested it after a White woman in Central Park falsely accused a Black birder of assault in 2020. In a racial reckoning that shook the field of ornithology, the activists, most of them White, argued that the names of some birds were offensive to people of color.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: aos; audubon; birdbrains; birdnames; birdwatching; cancelculture; cancelled; colleenhandel; judithscarl; leftwingnuts; madness; ornithology; renaming; rewrite; waronbirds; waronhistory
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last
To: Altura Ct.

Not so secret. Just deconstruct his name, and you get Woody Pekcerwood. Per Wikipedia:

Peckerwood is a term used in the Southern United States for a woodpecker which is also used as a racist epithet toward white people, especially poor rural whites. Originally a racist slur


21 posted on 11/01/2023 11:51:58 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Not so secret. Just deconstruct his name, and you get Woody Pekcerwood. Per Wikipedia:

Peckerwood is a term used in the Southern United States for a woodpecker which is also used as a racist epithet toward white people, especially poor rural whites. Originally a racist slur


22 posted on 11/01/2023 11:51:58 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Right Brother

FYI—For several years, the AOS community has engaged in a conversation about eponymous English bird names through a variety of activities and forums.

On November 1, 2023, the AOS Council announced three commitments concerning eponymous English bird names:

The AOS commits to changing all English-language names of birds within its geographic jurisdiction that are named directly after people (eponyms), along with other names deemed offensive and exclusionary, focusing first on those species that occur primarily within the U.S. or Canada.
The AOS commits to establishing a new committee to oversee the assignment of all English common names for species within the AOS’s jurisdiction; this committee will broaden participation by including a diverse representation of individuals with expertise in the social sciences, communications, ornithology, and taxonomy.
The AOS commits to actively involving the public in the process of selecting new English bird names.
Read the full AOS Council statement announcing these commitments and Council’s rationale.

Council’s commitments came in response to the final report and recommendations submitted by the AOS Ad Hoc English Bird Names Committee. All AOS members and other interested parties are encouraged to read the committee’s final report.

AOS President Colleen Handel, Ph.D., said: “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today. We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves. Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely—and birds need our help now more than ever.”

AOS Executive Director and CEO Judith Scarl, Ph.D., said: “As scientists, we work to eliminate bias in science. But there has been historic bias in how birds are named, and who might have a bird named in their honor. Exclusionary naming conventions developed in the 1800s, clouded by racism and misogyny, don’t work for us today, and the time has come for us to transform this process and redirect the focus to the birds, where it belongs. I am proud to be part of this new vision and am excited to work in partnership with a broad array of experts and bird lovers in creating an inclusive naming structure.”


23 posted on 11/01/2023 11:52:37 AM PDT by Ed Condon (subliminal messages here in invisible ink)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

AOS is made up of morons. Where do these people come from?


24 posted on 11/01/2023 11:54:01 AM PDT by chopperk (b)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

More insanity… 🙄


25 posted on 11/01/2023 11:54:02 AM PDT by nutmeg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Easy. Start the “Ornithological Society of America”, and keep the names.

See which one is still around in a few years.


26 posted on 11/01/2023 11:56:06 AM PDT by RFEngineer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.
shoebill-facts-wow

Meet the new (George) Floyd's Stork.

27 posted on 11/01/2023 12:01:17 PM PDT by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

They have gone batshit crazy!


28 posted on 11/01/2023 12:01:20 PM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (BOYCOTT Anheuser Busch, the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR & Faux Snooze! Molon Labe! Oathkeeper! )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Have you seen a Red-Winged Bird of Color?


29 posted on 11/01/2023 12:05:00 PM PDT by omega4412
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

Name them after the Bidens.


30 posted on 11/01/2023 12:06:35 PM PDT by bgill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Next thing ya know, the colors of black, brown, red & yellow cannot be used or said! The white spectrum will be obsolete! (This is half-assed sarcasm but the way things are going, it just might be true)


31 posted on 11/01/2023 12:06:39 PM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (BOYCOTT Anheuser Busch, the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR & Faux Snooze! Molon Labe! Oathkeeper! )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

This has got to be the Bee


32 posted on 11/01/2023 12:08:08 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego

The orchard oriole has to be changed. Orchards were part of the white settlers’ invasion.

Oriole might have to be changed. It’s a Latin root word.

Why is an individual racist name worse than the entire racist settling process?

Scientific names are out too. Following Linnaean classification is hierarchical and minimizes indigenous patterns of knowledge.


33 posted on 11/01/2023 12:08:36 PM PDT by heartwood (Someone has to play devil's advocate.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Magnum44

The bird named Sue is offended...


34 posted on 11/01/2023 12:09:19 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

The first bird to be renamed will probably be the chicken because fried chicken has long been a racial trope.


35 posted on 11/01/2023 12:10:29 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.
....after a White woman in Central Park falsely accused a Black birder of assault in 2020. ...

The press always points out her skin color but almost never mention that the racist white woman is a leftwing nut. I am thinking now that the whole event was staged because the publicity gave him an economic boost and is being used as an excuse for causes she supports to cancel people.

36 posted on 11/01/2023 12:12:26 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Jack Sparrow was a Pirate....does that count?


37 posted on 11/01/2023 12:12:50 PM PDT by G Larry (It is RACIST to impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants by importing Cheap ILLEGAL Labor!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

Perfect.
Thanks for the laugh.


38 posted on 11/01/2023 12:14:37 PM PDT by Veto! (FJB Sucks Rocks)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Is it o.k. to change the name to Wood Peckerwood?


39 posted on 11/01/2023 12:14:49 PM PDT by lastchance (Cognovit Dominus qui sunt eius.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

a commie dyke from Harvard.

These people won’t stop until anyone they deem ‘exclusionary’ has been killed... then they’ll turn on each other.


40 posted on 11/01/2023 12:16:48 PM PDT by Levy78 (Reject modernity, embrace tradition. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson