20 Questions
What percentage of the American population is White?
60%
What is the approximate percentage of the Black population in the US?
13%
What is the percentage of the Indigenous population in the US?
Less than half of one percent
In which city do some neighborhoods have a very high Black population, sometimes near 100%?
Atlanta
What is environmental racism?
A systemic pattern associated with discriminating by race in the creation and distribution of environmental goods and bads
Which country has a larger income gap and is less economically equal?
The US
What percentage of the Canadian population is white?
70%
What is the primary factor in determining the siting of hazardous waste treatment facilities in America?
Race
Which group in Canada lives longer and healthier than white Canadians?
All visible minority groups, except Indigenous Canadians
What does structural racism refer to?
Systemic patterns and social outcomes associated with assigning and discriminating by race
What does environmental justice stress the need for?
Equitable distribution of environmental goods and bads between people, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender
What did a 1987 report find regarding minority populations in the US?
Race accounts for the disproportionate exposure to environmental and public health dangers
What is the Flint Water Crisis an example of?
Environmental racism
Where is London, ON mentioned in relation to environmental racism?
Waste treatment facilities situated downwind from communities with specific demographics
What concept links capitalistic economic practices to racial categorization, contributing to environmental injustice?
Racial capitalism
Which historic practice in the US led to economic disenfranchisement of people of color, correlating with current health disparities?
Redlining
What is the name of the Indigenous group in the US that combines traditional stewardship with a functional timber industry, maintaining a biodiverse land due to upheld sovereignty?
Menominee Nation
What is one highly impactful resource decision imposed on native lands in the US, against the desires of Indigenous communities?
Dakota Access Pipeline
In Canada, what issue and protests involve the violation of Indigenous rights to environmental resources and decision-making through the expansion of oil and gas pipelines?
Wet'suwet'en issue and protests
How many Indigenous communities in Canada were under permanent boil water advisories in 2015 despite the government's fiduciary responsibility?
~200 communities
Study Notes
Environmental Injustice and Indigenous Sovereignty
- In the United States, non-white communities face higher exposure to polluting land uses and health threats compared to white communities, and a similar trend is observed in Canada to some extent.
- The concept of racial capitalism links capitalistic economic practices to racial categorization, contributing to environmental injustice.
- Structural inequities create and reinforce environmental and infrastructural injustices, with over 1.5 million people in the US lacking water and sewage connections.
- Redlining, a historic practice in the US, led to economic disenfranchisement of people of color, correlating with current health disparities.
- Settler colonialism in the US enforces limited rights and representation of Indigenous people, leading to the overlooking of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge.
- The Menominee Nation in the US combines traditional stewardship with a functional timber industry, maintaining a biodiverse land due to upheld sovereignty.
- Highly impactful resource decisions are imposed on native lands, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, against the desires of Indigenous communities in the US.
- In Canada, the expansion of oil and gas pipelines through Indigenous land violates their rights to environmental resources and decision-making, as seen in the Wet'suwet'en issue and protests.
- Indigenous communities in Canada often lack access to safe, clean water despite the government's fiduciary responsibility, with nearly 200 communities under permanent boil water advisories in 2015.
- Historically, nature and outdoor experiences have been less accessible to minority communities, leading to disparities in national park visitors and participation in environmental fields.
- The skewed perception of "nature" as a "white" space has contributed to the "adventure gap," highlighting the need to rethink and overcome assumptions for more equity and fairness.
- Amnesty International objects to the criminalization of Wet'suwet'en land defenders in Canada, emphasizing the ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights and environmental justice.
Explore the concept of structural environmental racism and its impact on racialized environments, with a focus on the American case. Learn about environmental justice, settler colonialism, and the intersection of whiteness and nature.
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