Minnesota’s governor recently approved a bill to rename a highly invasive species called ”Asian carp” because the name was deemed offensive to the Asian community. The fish, which have been threatening the ecosystem of the Great Lakes, will now be known as “invasive carp.”
The species’ original name was due to the fact that they were from Asia, having been imported into the U.S. in the 1970s. Because the fish became associated with the harm it was causing the region’s freshwater lakes, however, some found the name to be hurtful.
When the state senate approved the bill to rename the fish back in April, CBS reported that the measure “response to concern by some people that the current term casts people from Asian cultures in a negative light.”
Democratic senator John Hoffman was responsible for sponsoring the bill. “Caucasians brought them to America,” he told the Star Tribune. ”Should we call them ‘Caucasian carp?’ They have names. Let’s call them what they are.”