![Week 2
§ Environmental racism:
§ Credited to Benjamin Chavis, who coined the
term in 1982:
| “racial discrimination in environmental policy making,
the enforcement of regulations and laws, the
deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic
waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the life-
threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in our
communities, and the history of excluding people of
color from leadership of the ecology movements.[2] ”
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism
Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/indg2015week2publicslides-200915223808/85/INDG2015-week-2-public-slides-4-320.jpg)
#INDG2015 week 2 public slides
- 1. INDG 2015 Week 2: human-environmental relations, environmental racism, colonization, and Indigenous Studies, an introduction Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 2. Week 1 Recap § Global Indigeneity § Intersectionality (with credit to Kimberle Crenshaw): we must think about Indigeneity in relation to intersecting experiences in North America and elsewhere. Indigenous experiences are varied across continents and historical experiences (cannot map North American Indigenous experiences directly onto other parts of the world). Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 3. Week 2 human-environmental relations, environmental racism, colonization, and Indigenous Studies,an introduction § Objectives for Today’s Class | Examine what environmental racism is | Apply this framework to examining environmental crises/disasters in Indigenous contexts | Kimmerer: relationality and reciprocity (collective care, gift economy, giving thanks, complementarity) Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 4. Week 2 § Environmental racism: § Credited to Benjamin Chavis, who coined the term in 1982: | “racial discrimination in environmental policy making, the enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the life- threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in our communities, and the history of excluding people of color from leadership of the ecology movements.[2] ” | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 5. Week 2 § “ a national report found that racial demographics were the number one predictor of where hazardous waste facilities were located across the United States. Since then, strong empirical evidence in the U.S. has shown that non-white communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental risks, have less of a say in the development and implementation of environmental laws and regulations, and are less likely to have their voices heard on issues of environmental degradation.” http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ecojustice/environmental- racism-canadal_b_7224904.html Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 6. Week 2 § Short learning activity: | Brainstorm some examples of environmental racism you are aware of in Canada or abroad | Map these out onto a piece of paper or on Word/editing software of your choice | How do these instances of environmental racism impact you in your day to day life? | How does your positionality impact your experiences of environmental violence? Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 7. Week 2 Environmental Racism case study § Africville: § “an industrial boom that swept Halifax in the late 1800s brought racism to Africville’s doorstep. Facilities shunned by Halifax cropped up around the black community. Africville’s backyard filled with human feces disposal pits, an infectious disease hospital, an abattoir, a prison, an open dump and an incinerator.” § (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1282706-weekend-focus-the- toxic-sites-of-nova-scotia-racism) Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 8. Week 2 http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1282706-weekend-focus-the-toxic-sites-of-nova-scotia-racism Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 9. Week 2: Short Video § “Environmental Racism: Black communities face more health risks from industrial pollution” (RT America, 2015) § https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxLbg DsLHNc Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 10. Week 2: 30 minute documentary § Please watch this documentary and reflect on how it links to this week’s readings § https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnHW ZE0M_-k Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 11. Week 2 § Chemical Valley § “Sarnia is home to more than 60 refineries and chemical plants that produce gasoline, synthetic rubbers, and other materials that the world’s industries require to create the commercial products we know and love. The city’s most prominent and profitable attraction is an area about the size of 100 city blocks known as the Chemical Valley, where 40 percent of Canada’s chemical industry can be found packed together like a noxious megalopolis. ” http://www.vice.com/en_ca/video/the-chemical-valley-part-1 Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 12. Braiding Sweetgrass § Sky Woman Story (WATCH) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSzDM7Jmg94 Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 13. Sky Woman Falling – Shelly Niro http://www.historymuse um.ca/blog/staff-picks- favourites-from-the- canadian-museum-of- history/ Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 14. Becoming Sky Woman – Skawennati https://www.artsy.net/artwork/skawennati-becoming-sky- woman Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 15. Council of Pecans (pp. 11-21) § MAJOR CONCEPT: collective action § What did you learn from this section on pecans? § Mast Fruiting (collective labour of trees) § Communication between trees (mycorrhizal networks) Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 16. The Gift of Strawberries pp. 22- 31 § MAJOR CONCEPT: the gift economy § Gift economy: what does this mean to you? Can you think of examples of gift economies in your own life? § What would the university (as a concept, a structure) look like if we highlighted the gift economy within it? What would change if we shifted to reciprocity as a guiding force in higher education? Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 17. An Offering – pp. 33-38 § MAJOR CONCEPT: offerings, ritual, ceremony – paying respect to the lands/waters/atmospheres that sustain us § What does an offering mean in your relationships to the environment? Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 18. § MAJOR CONCEPT: complementarity § What does it mean to study more-than- human beings from an Indigenous perspective? How does Dr. Kimmerer’s experience studying botany help us understand the possibilities that open up when we hold Indigenous Knowledges and western science in conversation with each other? Asters and Goldenrod pp. 39-47 Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 19. Kimmerer § Keywords § Reciprocity § Relationality § Collectivity, care, gift economies, offerings, giving thanks, complementarity Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 20. Week 2 § Robin Wall Kimmerer | Discussion point: • How are Indigenous plant-relations impacted by environmental racism? Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 21. Week 2 § Re-cap | Environmental racism is the tangible reality that racialized communities, marginalized communities are more likely to be exposed to contamination through the siting of dumps, toxic waste facilities and projects which pollute waters, soils, air | This phenomenon brings together our study of the issues of nature, culture, and social justice | Indigenous worldviews/cosmologies offer us collective, reciprocal perspectives on human-environmental relations (Kimmerer 2013) Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020
- 22. Week 2 § Reflection – feel free to post your response to this question on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with the hashtag #INDG2015 | Discuss how the concept of environmental racism impacts your understanding of environmental issues in Canada Copyright: Dr. Zoe Todd 2020