Submitted by Joe Montanaro, Cos Cob
When a segment of society becomes so comfortable, immensely out of touch and lacking of worthwhile complaints; it begins to reach and scramble for attention. Idle hands are the devil’s playground. To this end, I give you racist bird names. ( What’s In a Bird Name? | Audubon ) Somehow the Audubon Society has spun bird names into the tangled web of inclusivity and progressiveness. Cut from the same cloth as history destroyers and statue topplers, these social justice warriors are reexamining “honorifics”.
They claim that about 150 of the 2000 North and Central American bird species have such names. That is approximately 13% of the names, which is about 12.9% more than the number of people who would actually consider this ridiculousness.
Does the Audubon Society not realize they are potentially alienating a large segment of their patrons and donors?
Those who may not subscribe to the erasure of everything deemed by a select few to be racist or unbecoming of our 2022 world. There are parents of children who attend programs at the Audubon or may enjoy hiking and birdwatching on the grounds who do not wish to worry about what they call a bird in the woods. Most people just want to take in nature, unobstructed by politics or ideologies.
“A growing movement to reexamine names bestowed on everything from college campuses to city streets has swelled to encompass birders, ornithologists, and conservationists. Doing away with honorifics, they say, and renaming birds for the qualities that make each special, could make the birding world more inclusive for those who have long been left out or pushed away. Once unthinkable, the scientific body that governs bird names is finally embarking on a process that could redefine not only what we call myriad birds but also birding itself.” – Audubon Magazine Summer 2022
Rewriting or, in this case, eliminating history is a narcissistic and fascist tactic that is being used by a
select few to undermine and further divide our society. Do they not realize that calling bird names racist may alienate the very people that Audubon is trying to encourage to enjoy their grounds.
Audubon wants to increase minority involvement in birdwatching and conservation. I do not think demonizing the history of North American bird names by drudging up the past of every person they may be named after will inspire more minority involvement in the cause. These tactics are extremely divisive and counterproductive. It is complete craziness! Is there no worthier cause than endlessly renaming historical items?
Let us focus on more pressing causes for the betterment of society as a whole. Stop these distracting undertones that only destabilize our community and country at large. These out of touch individuals need to step into the real world and get some perspective. Not everything is racist and their attempts to make it such have failed time and time again in recent years. Seriously, Renaming Birds??!! To quote my current favorite comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, “Aren’t you embarrassed?”.