Taxacom: botanical names with racist history

[David Campbell]

This particular name, and certain others, raise the problem that that it is
treated as racist in some places but used as self-identification by other
people.  If I remember correctly, it is a south Asian population with some
south African heritage that sees the name as positive, versus the racist
usage in southern Africa itself.

Given that the taxonomic usage seems to be based on an old geographic term,
faulting the taxonomic names for later derogatory use seems excessive.  A
note that these names reflect the geography and not the racism would seem
more in order,

It would be rather difficult to avoid any possible offense in names.
Linnaeus' fondness for anatomy-inspired names led (through a few subsequent
workers) to an important fishery bivalve in east Asia being named Lamarck's
prostitute, if one translates the Latin.

There is historic precedent for names to be disapproved for animals; the
Finnish word for God was rejected as a mollusk genus.

Finding ways to make training and employment in systematics more accessible
to all seems much more likely to have significant benefits for the victims
of past injustices than changing names.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
Professor, Geology
Department of Natural Sciences
110 S Main St, #7270
Gardner-Webb University
Boiling Springs NC 28017