Bird Watchers Promise to Become a More Welcoming Group

 

In 1896, many birds were killed so women of high social standing¹ in the United States could wear hats made with their feathers.

Two women, Minna Hall and Harriet Hemenway of Boston, Massachusetts, asked their friends to help stop the practice. They chose to name their group, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, after John James Audubon, a naturalist² famous for his paintings of American birds.

Now, 125 years after its founding, the organization along with nearly 500 Audubon Society chapters faces a problem with another side of Audubon's life: He owned enslaved people and opposed freeing them.

Changes in the environmental movement

In the year since George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, Audubon chapters have promised to do more to correct the wrongs of the past. The groups are employing people from different racial groups and finding ways to make natural spaces more welcoming to people of color.

It is part of a broader change within the wider environmental movement. There has been criticism of the movement for years because of its racist³ beginnings and lack of diversity.

Last autumn, Mass Audubon published a document recognizing how Audubon's family wealth came in large part from running a Caribbean sugar farm. It has also promised to have people of color make up 25 percent of its leadership committee and hopes to open more wildlife refuges in communities of color. The National Audubon Society, which is based in New York, has similarly looked into its history in a series of writings.

And the Sierra Club publicly apologized last July for the racist views of its founder⁴, John Muir. Muir had called American Indians "dirty savages⁶."

The group has also promised to spend $5 million to increase its environmental justice work. Recently, the Sierra Club said it supports repayments⁷ to Blacks for the damage caused by slavery.

Debbie Njai founded the outdoor group BlackPeopleWhoHike. "At this point, if people are not part of what they're trying to protect, that's an issue," she said.

David O'Neill is president of Mass Audubon. He agreed, "If we don't get younger and we don't get more diverse, we're not going to have people to advocate on behalf of nature, and that's not good for anyone."

Green 2.0 is a Washington, DC-based group that puts out a yearly report on diversity in the environment. It reports that the nation's largest environmental groups added, on average, six people of color to their workforce⁸, and only three to their leadership between 2017 and 2020.

Andres Jimenez is head of Green 2.0. He said green organizations appear to be making progress on improving staff diversity, but their leadership remains⁹ mostly white. More change is needed at the top of the organizations, he added.

Changing bird names

Another movement for change -- Bird Names for Birds -- is to stop using names of birds that honor slaveholders and white supremacists.

That effort started last summer after an argument between a Black birdwatcher and a white woman with her dog in New York's Central Park. The video of the event was widely seen, producing #BlackBirdersWeek and other similar efforts to show that Black nature enthusiasts¹⁰ face discrimination and other dangers in the outdoors.

Christian¹¹ Cooper, the birdwatcher, is also a leading member of the New York City Audubon Society. He said his chapter has been trying to draw more diverse members through small events like last month's Juneteenth birdwatching and picnic.

"The organizations that are having the most success are those that are trying new things," Cooper said. He added that fixing hundreds of years of unfair treatment is "hard and uncomfortable work."

Back at Mass Audubon, O'Neill says the organization has added new members so that 17 percent of them are people of color. Its workforce of more than 950 is now about 65 percent white.

Words in This Story

feather – n. any one of the light growths that make up the outer covering of the body of a bird

chapter – n. the people in a certain area who make up one section of a large organization

diversity – n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization

savage⁵ – n. old-fashioned + offensive. a person who has a way of life that is simple and not highly advanced

advocate – v. to support or argue for (a cause, policy, or such.)

picnic – n. a meal that is eaten outdoors especially during a trip away from home

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

3 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

6 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

7 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

8 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。