Don't Re-name American bird species! Don't Politicize Nature!
Don't Re-name American bird species! Don't Politicize Nature!
The Issue
- We, the undersigned, ask that the Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology focus on devoting their efforts to preserving bird life, and not to participating in extremist and Orwellian political demands to change North American bird names to comply with Critical Race Theory. We love nature. We recognize that North American birds are in trouble. "Nearly 3 Billion Birds Gone Since 1970," reports the Cornell Ornithology Lab. This is "A staggering loss that suggests the very fabric of North America's ecosystem is unraveling." Birds have lost habitat. They die in window strikes. Our nature organizations should be devoted to these issues, in protecting habitat, and educating the public in simple ways to protect birds. Instead, an extremist elite is devoting time and effort to ferreting out and erasing any bird names associated with a white, male naturalist. Examples are the McCown's longspur, the Bachman's sparrow, and the Bachman's warbler.
- The McCown's longspur, we are told, must be renamed. John P. McCown collected the first specimen of this bird for scientific study. Erasing his name erases America's natural history heritage for political ends. This kind of erasure is more closely associated with Orwellian totalitarian states, not with American democracy. McCown's name must be tossed down the memory hole because McCown was a military man who served in the Confederate Army. In fact, McCown was "indifferent to Confederate success." He wanted to retire from the military and "go home and plant potatoes." The Confederacy relieved McCown of one command, called him back, and then court-martialed him. In turn, McCown denounced the Confederacy as "a damned stinking cotton oligarchy ... gotten up for the benefit of Isham G. Harris and Jefferson Davis and their damned corrupt cliques."
- Though the Bachman's warbler may already be extinct, it must be renamed, as must the Bachman's sparrow. The extremist elite demanding the name change allege that Bachman was a racist. In fact Bachman was a significant figure who argued against the most racist theory of the day, polygenesis. Bachman insisted that blacks and whites were brothers. He invited blacks into his congregation, mentored black leaders, and educated blacks when it was illegal to do so.
- That the extremist elite who demand these and one hundred other name changes are motivated by racial animus is telegraphed by their insistence that the name of the Montezuma quail not be changed. The Montezuma quail is named for a leader of the Aztec empire. This empire was built on ritualized torture, cannibalism, slavery, and human sacrifice.
- We want our donation dollars to contribute to the preservation of the natural world and the natural history that preceded us. We reject naming campaigns dictated by a racial animus that will serve only to drive a wedge between those of us who love nature, and weaken our united efforts to preserve the natural world. Rather than being divisive and vengeful, let us be united and hopeful, and continue to work together to ensure that future generations inherit the natural world we have enjoyed, and the natural history that we can all claim as our inheritance.
Daria SockeyPetition Starter
This petition had 210 supporters
The Issue
- We, the undersigned, ask that the Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology focus on devoting their efforts to preserving bird life, and not to participating in extremist and Orwellian political demands to change North American bird names to comply with Critical Race Theory. We love nature. We recognize that North American birds are in trouble. "Nearly 3 Billion Birds Gone Since 1970," reports the Cornell Ornithology Lab. This is "A staggering loss that suggests the very fabric of North America's ecosystem is unraveling." Birds have lost habitat. They die in window strikes. Our nature organizations should be devoted to these issues, in protecting habitat, and educating the public in simple ways to protect birds. Instead, an extremist elite is devoting time and effort to ferreting out and erasing any bird names associated with a white, male naturalist. Examples are the McCown's longspur, the Bachman's sparrow, and the Bachman's warbler.
- The McCown's longspur, we are told, must be renamed. John P. McCown collected the first specimen of this bird for scientific study. Erasing his name erases America's natural history heritage for political ends. This kind of erasure is more closely associated with Orwellian totalitarian states, not with American democracy. McCown's name must be tossed down the memory hole because McCown was a military man who served in the Confederate Army. In fact, McCown was "indifferent to Confederate success." He wanted to retire from the military and "go home and plant potatoes." The Confederacy relieved McCown of one command, called him back, and then court-martialed him. In turn, McCown denounced the Confederacy as "a damned stinking cotton oligarchy ... gotten up for the benefit of Isham G. Harris and Jefferson Davis and their damned corrupt cliques."
- Though the Bachman's warbler may already be extinct, it must be renamed, as must the Bachman's sparrow. The extremist elite demanding the name change allege that Bachman was a racist. In fact Bachman was a significant figure who argued against the most racist theory of the day, polygenesis. Bachman insisted that blacks and whites were brothers. He invited blacks into his congregation, mentored black leaders, and educated blacks when it was illegal to do so.
- That the extremist elite who demand these and one hundred other name changes are motivated by racial animus is telegraphed by their insistence that the name of the Montezuma quail not be changed. The Montezuma quail is named for a leader of the Aztec empire. This empire was built on ritualized torture, cannibalism, slavery, and human sacrifice.
- We want our donation dollars to contribute to the preservation of the natural world and the natural history that preceded us. We reject naming campaigns dictated by a racial animus that will serve only to drive a wedge between those of us who love nature, and weaken our united efforts to preserve the natural world. Rather than being divisive and vengeful, let us be united and hopeful, and continue to work together to ensure that future generations inherit the natural world we have enjoyed, and the natural history that we can all claim as our inheritance.
Daria SockeyPetition Starter
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Petition created on June 15, 2021