Ornithologists Advocate for Changing ‘Racist’ Names of Birds

The left’s targeting of historic names it deems racist is ever-broadening and now includes birds, which the National Audubon Society claims honor people associated with slavery and white supremacy.

As the Washington Post puts in its left-wing reporting, it took the hiring of a black ornithologist at its Georgia affiliate, Corina Newsome, to begin to “break down barriers.” But that effort will be “daunting” because “as with the wider field of conservation, racism and colonialism is in ornithology’s DNA, indelibly linked to its origin story.”

Now, according to the Post, white ornithologists are debating the possible name change of 150 birds.

The Bachman’s sparrow, Wallace’s fruit dove and other winged creatures bear the names of men who fought for the Southern cause, stole skulls from Indian graves for pseudoscientific studies that were later debunked, and bought and sold Black people. Some of these men stoked violence and participated in it without consequence.

Even John James Audubon’s name is fraught in a nation embroiled in a racial reckoning.

“I am deeply troubled by the racist actions of John James Audubon and recognize how painful that legacy is for black, indigenous and people of color who are part of our staff, volunteers, donors and members,” interim Chief Executive at Audubon Elizabeth Gray said in a statement.

Newsome said she felt uncomfortable when she had to don her Audubon-logo designed shirt.

“I felt like I was wearing the name of an oppressor, the name of someone who enslaved my ancestors,” Newsome said.

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