The article I chose is “Seeding an anti-racist culture at Scotland’s Botanical Gardens
Botanical gardens are re-examining their collections’ colonial roots — botanists of color Say keep going.” This relates to my group’s topic and issues the most. The article refers to the minority ethnic backgrounds as “hidden figures” as their contributions of specimens to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh have gone unrecunized. For the past 350 years, white European explorers have received praise for building the archives, but it’s time for a change. In the last two years, progress has been made to acknowledge the achievements of people who were not white Europeans, and to make the gardens a more welcoming place for visitors and employees. In March, the institution released a racial justice report, informing an action plan to “embed” racial-justice work as a “core aspect” of the organization. This extends to its research and training efforts, with the study recommending specific PhD grants for students from underrepresented backgrounds and supporting more equal connections with researchers worldwide. Beyond the efforts being made at specific gardens, there is a need for global scientific collaboration. Makunga co-founded Black Botanists Week, a global event highlighting Black and Indigenous botanists and plant scientists. One of the community’s discussions, she says, is whether to rename plants whose scientific names insult Indigenous people.
Bibliography
Nordling, Linda. “Seeding an Anti-racist Culture at Scotland’s Botanical Gardens.” Nature, Nov. 2022, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03797-z