Taxacom: botanical names with racist history

[Nadia Talent]

Dear John and Jeremy,

I agree that the action taken is measured and reasonable. However, it is causing quite a stir in wikipedia because wikipedia generally follows other databases and the workload will be huge. There is resistance to making any changes until they are well established elsewhere (I have argued that that is likely to leave wikipedia incorrect for a long time).

There would be much more that might be considered in this line. Previous decisions have sided with not hiding history, so not changing a name that commemorated the use of a grass species to whip slaves. Changing all such names might obviously be very disruptive.

Best wishes,

Nadia Talent

> On 22 Jul 2024, at 2:40 PM, Jeremy Bruhl via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
> 
> Dear John
> 
> Words master and can hurt deeply. The action taken is measured and reasonable.
> 
> Cheers,  Jeremy
> 
> Sent from Outlook for Android<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faka.ms%2FAAb9ysg&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C71742248869947d63d9308dcaa0b9782%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638572213964511619%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=F0wqRPwNjRk0QUnglS%2FTEidWl9mKXHNUsKVIZPs7fX4%3D&reserved=0>
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> ________________________________
> From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> on behalf of John Grehan via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu>
> Sent: Monday, July 22, 2024 5:58:23 am
> To: taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> Subject: Taxacom: botanical names with racist history
> 
> Statements below from a web site. Can any botanist on Taxacom comment
> further on this?
> 
> Scientists have voted to eliminate the names of certain plants that are
> deemed to be racially offensive. The decision to remove a label that
> contains such a slur was taken last week after a gruelling six-day session
> attended by more than 100 researchers, as part of the International
> Botanical Congress, which officially opens on Sunday in Madrid.
> 
> The effect of the vote will be that all plants, fungi and algae names that
> contain the word *caffra*, which originates in insults made against Black
> people, will be replaced by the word *affra* to denote their African
> origins. More than 200 species will be affected, including the coast coral
> tree, which will be known as *Erythrina affra* instead of *Erythrina caffra*
> .
> 
> The scientists attending the nomenclature session also agreed to create a
> special committee which would rule on names given to newly discovered
> plants, fungi and algae. These are usually named by those who first
> describe them in the scientific literature. However, the names could now be
> overruled by the committee if they are deemed to be derogatory to a group
> or race
> 
> --
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> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity for about 37 years, 1987-2024.
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> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity for about 37 years, 1987-2024.
> 
>