Collard Greens:Ī few years ago, I planted collard greens. If I saw such plants at a local store or greenhouse, I would suggest a name change to the manager. I could find no similar examples of plant names that are unflattering/prejudiced towards Christians or other religious groups, but if there were and even if the group did not share the same history of oppression and genocide, there seems no reasonable argument to use derogatory common names. While not a plant, no one should call a wood ear mushroom a Jew’s Ear. There are other plants with “Jew” in their title and these should be changed as well. I am uncertain what SKUD renamed the plant to, but perhaps Purple Spiderwort, Variegated Spiderwort, or Wandering Spiderwort might be some good ideas. Interestingly, the Swedish Cultural Plant Database (SKUD) has changed the name of the “Wandering Jew” plant as well as another plant with an anti-semitic name (Jew Cherry which we know as Chinese Lantern Plants). With this history in mind, calling a rambling, hard to destroy plant a “Wandering Jew” does not seem like the most culturally sensitive nomenclature, to say the least. This stereotype has been used in modern times to incite hate, such as the Nazi film entitled “ Der Erwige Jude,” which revived and modernized the medieval myth and envisioning modern Jewish people as criminal, lazy, and perverse cosmopolitans who controlled the world through banking, commerce, politics, and the media. Thus, “The Wandering Jew” represents not only a person, but a stereotype regarding the nature of all Jewish people.

Expulsions and exclusion from various economic activities provided a material reality for the idea that Jewish people were outsiders or wanderers. In the 14th century, Jews were expelled from France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain.

Medieval cities also relegated Jewish populations to certain areas. During the middle ages, Jews were banned from owning land. In 1290, Edward the I expelled all Jewish people from England. While the character is very fictional, the antisemitic context the character was born from is not. Gaston Malingue’s painting “The Wandering Jew” For hundreds of year, even into the present day, this character has appeared in literature and art. Much like Big Foot or ghosts today, Europeans of the time believed that they had actually seen this character. This is not based on any actual Biblical story, though it may have been inspired by the story of Caine and European paganism. He was a perpetual traveler, unable to rest, but able to converse in all of the languages of the world. In some stories, his clothes and shoes never wear out and after 100 years, he returns to being a younger man. As punishment for his taunt, he was cursed to walk the Earth until the return of Christ. The character is a Jewish man who was said to have taunted Jesus before he was crucified. The term Wandering Jew comes from 13th Century Christian folklore. The employee assured my housemate and I that there was nothing antisemitic about the bushy, viney plant. A few years ago, a local greenhouse recommended a Purple Wandering Jew plant for our home, since they can grow in lower light conditions. The spiderwort species are the sort that seem most commonly used as indoor plants. There are several plants that bear this name, including three species of spiderwort plants, four species of dayflower, and two other plants. If you visit a greenhouse, you may find a plant called a Wandering Jew. I also did not cite sources within the text, but a list of links that I drew from can be found at the end). Thus, the following blog post offers an overview of some of these offenders, so that we can grow gardens as well as a more just world for everyone! (The list of problematic plants is not comprehensive. Plants like Wandering Jew, Kaffir lime, Nyjer seed, Indian Paintbrush, and even Collard Greens may be taken for granted by most growers, but contain issues of race and ethnicity. Other plants have racially sensitive histories that social justice minded gardeners should consider. Some plants have some very questionable names. Lately, I have been thinking about plants and issues of racism (and in one case, anti-semitism). Since I’ve been planting more, I have plants on the brain. Warm weather is finally here, so I have spent the last two weeks readying my garden for the season. Growing Injustice: Several Problematic Plants Growing Injustice: Several Problematic Plants

Indian paintbrush seeds