week 1 - defining key terms (Tess Riley)

In Bullard’s piece, “Confronting Environmental Racism,” he discusses how people of color are disproportionately harmed, both at their jobs and in their homes and communities, by effects of climate injustice such as pollution, waste dumping, and the construction of dangerous building plants and other environmentally detrimental structures that pose health risks.  Much of this injustice is imposed by the government, as the government essentially chooses which groups are protected from some of the consequences of climate change and which groups are “dumped on”, disregarded, and silenced. The tone of the text demonstrates the desperation of people in these marginalized communities to escape a situation that is rigged against them on all social, legal, and institutional levels.  While middle to upper-class families, particularly white families, are able to move away to protest unhealthy conditions, people of color face so much discrimination in terms of housing and jobs that they are deprived of the mobility necessary to escape dangerous conditions. In our city of New Orleans, this is evidenced by housing segregation in which people of color are more likely to be stuck in neighbors that have received the least funding or support in terms of recovering from Hurricane Katrina and repairing damage caused by other natural and man-made climate change events.  The U.S. was built on white racism, claiming “free land” which was stolen from indigenous people and “free labor” which was really labor forced upon slaves, and environmental racism continues to operate on these principles as it is reinforced by government and other institutions. Colonies are designed to enrich the colonizer, and institutional racism essentially means that POC communities are treated like colonies in the sense that they are exploited and abused to further the power and wealth of white communities and the wealthy, white people in power. In the U.S., people of color are forced to live in the most polluted areas with the least amount of resources and protections to support them.  In other countries, the U.S. engages in what is known as “toxic colonialism,” dumping waste and physically dangerous and/or environmentally detrimental plants and machinery in third world countries so that the U.S. can keep its production gains without suffering the human and environmental toll in their own country and communities.

In Cole and Foster’s piece, they discuss how it took many small and large incidents and protests over time to fuel the environmental movements that exist today.  One major form of grassroots activism that fueled climate justice efforts today is the civil rights movement. While fighting for their civil rights, black activists such as church leaders also engaged in environmental activism like opposing the PCB dump and other environmental injustices.  Civil rights activists contributed experience with direct action to spark change, empowerment via political actions, and a deep knowledge of the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis. The “antitoxic movement” is a small movement that also fed into today’s activism, defined by its active opposition to the use of incinerators and the act of waste dumping, especially in poor communities that cannot advocate for their safety in the same way as wealthier communities due to discrimination and lack of resources.  This movement also used valuable scientific studies and knowledge to further their goals. Cole and Foster also reference Bullard, who used academia to expose environmental racism by presenting studies and research in court to affect legal change. In 1991, the “First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit” took place, combining forces of activists from all different sectors and organizations against traditional environmental groups, which carry a history of discrimination. The emergency summit brought many local and intersectional issues to the national stage.  These grassroots activists worked to solve structural problems that target their communities as they fight for climate justice. This piece evokes feelings of hope as these smaller, less mainstream groups were able to come together to make a national statement about the urgency and severity of the causes they are facing and seek to find a solution to.

In Terry’s chapter, he discusses how mainstream discourse excludes gender issues.  He states that “vulnerability” to the effects of climate change is based on gender roles and relations, poverty, and marginalization.  Rural women in developing countries are amongst the most vulnerable, as they are responsible for collecting food and water and rely on agriculture and natural resources to maintain their livelihoods and support their families.  Terry notes that “adapting” is not the same as short-term coping, as short-term coping does not account for future changes and disasters that may occur and that need to be planned for. “Adaptation” means to reduce future vulnerability.  Women must be involved in creating these adaptations practices due to their extensive knowledge of the land and resources that are at risk. In order to allow women to contribute to the conversation of adaptation, the must be empowered both socially and politically to participate.  This piece evokes the message that empowering women is the future we need to fight climate change. Even in the U.S., progress is still being made, slowly but surely, to ensure that more women’s voices are represented both in local politics and on Congress’s national stage.

The Bali Principles of Climate Justice redefine climate change as an issue of both environmental justice and human rights.  Despite its more formal format compared to some of the other more narrative readings, it comes across as very emotional because it puts a human face on climate change by detailing very scientifically real and physically tangible signs of climate change and its impact on different communities.  In Harris’s article about the US Gulf Coast, she details how women, especially women of color, had the hardest time recovering after Hurricane Katrina. Southern women in particular face racist and sexist discrimination that makes it difficult for them to find employment, acquire equal pay to their male and white counterparts, find adequate housing, and access affordable healthcare.  The article ends on a hopeful note, as Harris highlights the positive aspects that came from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including more women getting involved in the recovery, more women taking on leadership positions, and therefore a greater voice for and awareness of the gendered struggles women face in the aftermath of a climate disaster.

Bibliography:

Bullard, R. (1993). Confronting environmental racism. Boston, Mass.: South End Press.

Cole, Luke and Sheila Foster. 2008. “The Environmental Justice Movement.” Ecology: Key Concepts in Critical Theory.

Terry, Geraldine. 2009. “Prelims - Climate Change and Gender Justice.” Climate Change and Gender Justice i-viii.

Anon. 2002. “Bali Principles of Climate Justice.”

Harris, Rachel. 2010. “Gender Aspects of Climate Change in the US Gulf Coast Region.”