Read on Twitter
You know what’s hilarious? Everyone talks about callout culture, cancel culture, and having to walk on eggshells in this recent social climate. But if you were to ask any young person how they feel about it, they all say “Oh please call me out. I want to know...
when I’m doing something wrong and how I can be better.” Young people acknowledge that no one is perfect and that we all have these ingrained biases and prejudices, but that we have to actively fight against them. We know that accountability is a form of healing and reform.
And first acknowledging the wrongdoing is vital in moving forward. It’s uncomfortable but it has to happen. We understand that someone should not be judged forever by something they said in the past, but a more telling sign of a person is what they do AFTER.
When we ask to learn about the negative parts of history or a person (Garrett Hardin, John Muir, etc), it teaches us that people are flawed and should not be put on a pedestal. We should want to learn the full history.
We cannot go back and change history but we can learn from the wrongdoings and fix/dismantle the current system that was formed that still benefits from those wrongdoings and current oppressions.
Humans are flawed...which means science can be flawed. Our own biases shape what kind of research questions are asked, what is funded, and how we draw conclusions. It is naive to say that science is objective and that the people who participate in it are objective as well.
That doesn’t mean we should throw it all out the window. You should take those difficult realizations as motivations to make science better. Make science welcoming for all and ensure it helps the voiceless so that there won’t be people without a voice when you’re done.
And that’s that. 
