Many insect, animal names are racist, scholars say — so it's time for a change

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.

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 ******worm, though its name is derived from "its definition as a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel."

Anything else?
McGee told Science magazine in July that a lizard-catching tactic in particular gives her pause for concern.

She said that the term "noosing," which refers to lassoing a lizard before catching it, is "unnerving" to her as a black woman.

The magazine writes, "McGee, a herpetologist, studies the habitat and behavior of Yarrow's spiny lizard, a reptile native to the southwestern United States. The University of Arizona graduate student and her colleagues regularly pack their things—boots, pens, notebooks, trail mix—and set off into the nearby Chiricahua Mountains. At their field site, they start an activity with a name that evokes a racist past: noosing."

"'Noosing,'" the magazine continues, "is a long-standing term used by herpetologists for catching lizards."

"But for McGee, a Black scientist, the term is unnerving, calling to mind horrific lynchings of Black people by white people in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries," the article explains.

"Being the only Black person out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of white people talking about noosing things is unsettling," she says, and insists her colleagues change the term to "lassoing" instead.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/insect-animal-names-are-racist-scholars-say-so-its-time-for-a-change

I NEVER paste the whole article in one of my threads BUT in this case I had to make an exception. Is the cockroach to be renamed as the name sounds sexist and probably offensive to some group? Lord, Jesus please beam me up...

 

What about plants? I mean that pussywillow seems awfully sexist!

 

Once they stop teaching history like they want to do in Chicago, the problem she mentioned will be fixed because it will no longer exist.

But let's just get this over with, every black dude named Washington or Jackson has to change their name and I can only imagine what they'll come up with.

 

Black widow spider - it just has to go.

 

‘To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character, one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours.’~~ M. Twain

 

Like that will happen in today's cancel culture BS mindset.

 

You're forgetting.... Twain was a racist. He's whitewashing history with that..........

Can someone PLEASE shoot me......

 

If I do then who is going to shoot me? Ex-wife or upset girlfriends don't count.

 

We could tie a rope around each others heads and when one of us shoots the other in the head it will jerk the head back causing it to trigger the other gun... wait...rope = noose = racism.....DAMMIT!!!! Can't even kill ourselves without being racist!!!!!

 

Guess one can always go to a BLMS riot dressed in a KKK outfit.

 

Some of you might recall the dozens of times I asked the left to name something that isn't racist and they never responded with anything except to say the black guy who beat the white elderly guy in the nursing home certainly wasn't. This is why they never answer, because they constantly invent new racism every day. Think of how much time a person has to spend in their basement looking up the histories of guys who have bugs named after them.

 

That would do it.

 

This is just the beginning of the beginning - it ALL has to go!

Btw, I find her first name unsettling - it must be dismantled & put in a museum where it belongs.

 

Time to start naming everything and everyone numbers....of course with math being racist I'm not sure how that's going to be accomplished...

 

As a native Irish name, McGee is derived from the Gaelic "Mag Aodha," or "son of Hugh," while others of the name in Ireland, are ultimately of Scottish origin.

She obviously culturally appropriated that last name, and you know what that means.

 

To be fair there actually are and have been black people that are Irish for centuries.

 

African Americans still experience Racism and are accused of over-reacting.

In USA I have not experienced anti-Semitism since high school.

I would not visit Germany or Ukraine.

 

They are VERY determined to usher in a new era of extreme racism.

Funny to think they pretended they were opposed to it in the 1960's though, eh? Turns out is was the other guys who couldn't care less what colour you are.

 

Because for the most part they are. Do you really think that a Yarrow's Spiny Lizard name is known by most people as having been named after some racist person decades or more ago?

Why the hell should we consider changing the names of thousands of animals just because X person it was named after happened to be a racist?

Its idiotic and stupid....and over reacting.

 

There were so many Simpsons references in that piece.

 

I killed a black widow earlier today in the garden.

Afterwards I took a knee, checked my privilege and wept for 3 minutes...

 

Exactly.

It must ALL be dismantled and put in a museum where it belongs.

The problem, of course, is that museums - which are INCREDIBLY racist - need to be dismantled as well, so where do we put them?

 

While I find her last name DEEPLY troubling, it's her first name that triggers me.

Ear pain is no laughing matter, and every time I see her name, I flash back to painful past occurrences.

She must be dismantled & put in a museum where I won't be triggered.

 

Doesn't count unless you defunded yourself.

 

And the Minnesota loon, a big offense to Minneapolis and the outside agitators.