WEBVTT - 080324 Way Black History Fact - The 300-Year-Old Racist Plant Names

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<v Speaker 1>But right now it is time for the way Black

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<v Speaker 1>History Fact. In Today's way. Black History Fact is sponsored

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<v Speaker 1>by Major Threads for innovative, fashionable sportswear. Check major threads

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. I want to shout out a friend of

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<v Speaker 1>the show, I call her Shouty. She sent this over

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<v Speaker 1>to me earlier and I thought I might share with you.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a TikToker and he makes these videos and he

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<v Speaker 1>says everything is racist, and then he goes proceeds to

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<v Speaker 1>explain how something you would never think is racist is racist. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>today we're going to have one of those from NPR.

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<v Speaker 1>For almost three hundred years, researchers have classified life on

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<v Speaker 1>Earth with scientific names, two word monikers like Homo sapiens

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<v Speaker 1>that become a kind of permanent label. But there are

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<v Speaker 1>those who argue that some of these names are problematic, demeaning,

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<v Speaker 1>or even racist. How about that? That's why the community

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<v Speaker 1>of Plant, algae and fungi researchers took a series of

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<v Speaker 1>steps to start tackling these issues, including voting to rename

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<v Speaker 1>more than two hundred plants to strike a racial slur

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<v Speaker 1>from their official names. The move, made just ahead of

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<v Speaker 1>the International Botanical Congress in Madrid was intended to correct

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<v Speaker 1>a name that many found derogatory. One of the plants

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<v Speaker 1>that was facing a name change is the African coral

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<v Speaker 1>tree that grows in eastern South Africa. The problem is

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<v Speaker 1>the tree's scientific name irethenakafra. The second word likely originally

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<v Speaker 1>referred to the area where the tree was found. It

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<v Speaker 1>derives from the Arabic word for infidel, but it came

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<v Speaker 1>to be used as a racial slur against black people

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<v Speaker 1>in South Africa and elsewhere. It's for those that don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a it's like the N word, but it's used

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<v Speaker 1>in Africa. I'm not going to say it. And it

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<v Speaker 1>sounds it's like you could see the connection with this

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<v Speaker 1>word kafra. And so this is why these folks are like, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>we need to change this name. Okay that quote. That

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<v Speaker 1>word carries very violent, brutal, socially unjust history, says Makunga,

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<v Speaker 1>which is one of the folks were that is working

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<v Speaker 1>to changes, goes on to say, and so when I

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<v Speaker 1>see it, I get a bit of the sinking feeling

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<v Speaker 1>in my body, a physiological and maybe even a physical reaction. Sorry,

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<v Speaker 1>psychological and maybe even physical reaction Makunga has given presentations

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<v Speaker 1>that reference the coral tree, during which she's had to

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<v Speaker 1>write out or even say its derogatory name. Quote is

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<v Speaker 1>difficult to be pronouncing that as a black person. She says.

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<v Speaker 1>There are two hundred and eighteen plants, thirteen algae, and

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<v Speaker 1>seventy fungi whose scientific names have some variation of this word,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's part of their official designation for some since

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<v Speaker 1>the late seventeen hundreds. That's why we're talking about this

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<v Speaker 1>on the way Black History fact. Then, earlier this month,

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<v Speaker 1>more than one hundred scientists gathered in Madrid just before

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<v Speaker 1>the International Botanical Congress. This nomenclature section meets once every

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<v Speaker 1>six years to discuss altering the code that's been used

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<v Speaker 1>to name the more than quarter million plants, fungus, and

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<v Speaker 1>algae species on the planet. Some spoke against the proposal,

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<v Speaker 1>others came out in favor. At last, the question of

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<v Speaker 1>whether or not the names these plants names of these

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<v Speaker 1>plants should be changed came to a vote, and it

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<v Speaker 1>ended up being the case that the proposal passed was

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<v Speaker 1>sixty three percent in favor. Just clearing the sixty percent

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<v Speaker 1>threshold required. Some disputed the decision on technical grounds, and

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<v Speaker 1>there are those who agree that with the change, but

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<v Speaker 1>worry it could lead to a flurry of requests to

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<v Speaker 1>alter the nomenclature of untold numbers of other species. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>quote the names that were in the past, they should

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<v Speaker 1>remain the way that they are, says Elina Frairie Fierro,

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<v Speaker 1>a botanist at the Technical University of Kotopaxi in Ecuador,

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<v Speaker 1>who didn't attend the gathering in Madrid. Quote, you don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to seem like bigoted or something like that. But

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<v Speaker 1>at the same time, naming has to be a stable process.

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<v Speaker 1>She says. That's because these names are used across a

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<v Speaker 1>range of scientific disciplines and industry, spanning the fields of botany, horticulture,

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<v Speaker 1>and agriculture. And to that, I say, ooo easy for

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<v Speaker 1>you to say that from a position of privilege, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's not insulting you course, And you know what, the

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<v Speaker 1>only constant is change. If the name hurts people, change

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<v Speaker 1>the name stop hurting people. Yeah, it's like, come on, man,

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<v Speaker 1>nobody's talking about what is what? Tree? Is this anything?

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<v Speaker 1>You know what I'm saying, like, just do it. It

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<v Speaker 1>makes people feel better. You're not God and be kind.

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<v Speaker 1>It's very simple. Height,