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Support inclusive wildfire relief.
As wildfires rage through California again this fall, the disparity in media coverage is affecting relief efforts for residents of color. Media coverage and public pressure can affect which communities are prioritized for relief, with attention often focusing on more affluent white areas. But in fact, research has shown that communities of color are disproportionately affected by environmental disasters due to socioeconomic factors, structural racism in housing practices, and citizenship status (UW News). Wildfires are no exception.
TAKE ACTION
Diversify your news sources by reading news specific to the western United States from Indigenous perspectives such as High Country News.
Support the Indigenous People’s Burning Network and learn about tribal burning practices.
Donate to the Unete Center for Farm Workers and Immigrant Advocacy Fire Relief Fund.
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As wildfires rage through California again this fall, the disparity in media coverage is affecting relief efforts for residents of color. Media coverage and public pressure can affect which communities are prioritized for relief, with attention often focusing on more affluent white areas. But in fact, research has shown that communities of color are disproportionately affected by environmental disasters due to socioeconomic factors, structural racism in housing practices, and citizenship status (UW News). Wildfires are no exception. As covered previously, mainstream conservation practices are rooted in colonialism and white supremacy. Consequently, they’re ill-equipped to address the particular needs of residents most at risk (Anti-Racism Daily). Undocumented farmworkers are disproportionately affected by wildfires, and Indigenous people live on land that is, on average, six times more prone to wildfires than others (UW News). However, people of color are vastly underrepresented in coverage of environmental disasters (Louisiana Weekly). While representation in the media has been under scrutiny as of late, the exclusion of these narratives could be directly affecting the distribution of aid. For these already vulnerable communities, a lack of media attention further increases their capacity to recover (UW News). Due to the lack of federal resources, on the ground community-led efforts are attempting to fill in the gap (OPB).
Research demonstrates that wealthier, white areas are more likely to receive aid, though predominantly Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities are at 50% greater risk of wildfires (UW News). Matthew Wibbenmeyer, an economist and researcher at Resources for the Future says, “certain communities are more able to rally government support” (NYTimes). With organized and widely available resources, affluent, suburban communities are receiving the brunt of wildfire relief and media attention. The communities most at risk lack basic necessities like health insurance and vehicle access. These resources would make it more feasible to recover from environmental disasters such as wildfires. For instance, federal fuel treatment projects are largely implemented in predominantly white communities whose residents were over the poverty line. These projects reduce the amount of flammable vegetation in the area, drastically reducing the start and spread of wildfires. In the absence of fuel treatment programs, government assistance advises residents to invest in prohibitively expensive air conditioning or air purifying units, placing a heavy burden on individuals to compensate for structural shortcomings.
Alternatively, within some Indigenous communities affected by wildfires, there is a practice known as tribal burning. This can often mitigate the risk of wildfires. For years, it had been banned in California. But, as new policy seeks to form relationships with Indigenous communities, research is being done to show how the cultural practice can help to not only reduce the risk of wildfire but foster new growth in the affected areas (The Nature Conservancy). It is not enough for policy to allow the practice of tribal burning though, as Beth Rose Middleton Manning, a professor of Native American studies, observes, “I think it's really important that we don't think about traditional burning as: what information can we learn from native people and then exclude people and move on with non-natives managing the land”. She hopes to see indigenous leaders at the forefront of any tribal burning practice (NPR).
Similarly, much of the organized relief work has fallen on the shoulders of local organizers and BIPOC-led relief efforts. Activists such as Dagoberto Morales identified that one of the best ways to provide wildfire relief is to double down on community building. Through his organization Unete Center for Farm Workers and Immigrant Advocacy, he believes in long-term disaster relief through empowerment (OPB, Unete). While community members have organized their own aid networks, attention to those efforts alone would go a long way to furthering their cause. As effective as on-the-ground aid efforts can be, many residents are still vastly reliant on federal aid which has been diverted due to a lack of updated policies and understanding. News and media coverage for marginalized communities most at risk from wildfires could generate help for the grassroots organizations but also change misconceptions that hinder federal aid.
Sindhu Nallapareddy is a new transplant to Philadelphia who enjoys creating spreadsheets to track her reading habits, running and caring for her beloved chihuahua. You can find her on Instagram @reddysteadygo.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Research shows that communities of color are among the most at-risk populations during the current wildfires in California.
News coverage can determine which communities receive federal aid, and BIPOC narratives are largely missing in the reporting on these wildfires.
On-the-ground relief efforts by grassroots organizations are bearing the brunt of providing relief and aid to the communities of color most affected by this environmental disaster.
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Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
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Demand universal sick leave.
The pandemic has only deepened existing fault lines of class, race, and gender oppression. The ubiquity of the coronavirus has highlighted these structural inequalities, producing disparate effects on different populations. “Essential workers” were briefly lauded as “heroes” last year. Many of these workers, essential to maintaining community health and sustenance during a pandemic, would not typically receive paid sick days themselves.
TAKE ACTION
Demand that Congress mandate paid sick leave for all workers.
Follow Paid Leave for All on Twitter.
Support campaigns for expansive paid sick leave at the municipal level, like this one from Philadelphia.
GET EDUCATED
By Andrew Lee (he/him)
The pandemic has only deepened existing fault lines of class, race, and gender oppression. The ubiquity of the coronavirus has highlighted these structural inequalities, producing disparate effects on different populations. “Essential workers” were briefly lauded as “heroes” last year. Many of these workers, essential to maintaining community health and sustenance during a pandemic, would not typically receive paid sick days themselves.
Some people talk about the United States lagging behind other “developed countries” when it comes to offering paid sick leave, but this actually undersells the problem. 93% of all countries offer paid sick leave to all workers (P.R.I.). The U.S., both the richest and most inequitable country in the world (N.Y. Times), is part of the 7% which fails to do so. The United States also fails to mandate paid parental leave, unlike countries such as Germany, Mexico, and Niger. And U.S. workers aren’t required to receive paid vacation days. In contrast, workers in Algeria receive about a month every year. (Yahoo! News). The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act mandates that employers provide unpaid leave for certain conditions but leaves out common diseases like the flu. This excludes millions of workers who are new hires or employees of small businesses (Department of Labor).
Since employers in the United States aren’t required to provide any paid sick leave to their employees, many do not. About 32 million workers have no sick leave whatsoever, with less lucrative jobs less likely to offer sick days (Pew). Such workers are three times more likely to forgo medical care than those who would be paid during their absence (Health Affairs).
The absence of mandatory paid sick leave means people have to choose between working while sick or missing pay and potentially putting their job at risk. 63% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and almost half were spending beyond their means even before COVID (CNBC). For many, the choice between working while sick and losing income by calling out is no choice at all. Out of economic necessity, they are forced to risk worsening their own health and the health of coworkers or customers.
One survey found that 90% of office workers go into work while ill, with 33% reporting that they never call out sick (Robert Half). 12% of food service workers said they’ve worked while experiencing vomiting or diarrhea (CDC). Companies like Instacart and DoorDash promised COVID sick time for delivery drivers, but in practice, it was “onerous” to even apply (CNET). Since gig workers get paid by the job, some were seen wading through waste-deep sewage water (Gothamist) to deliver food as the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded NYC (USA Today). All in all, a pre-COVID survey found that 39% of workers went to work with flu-like symptoms (N.Y. Times). And though the federal government provided paid sick leave for workers with COVID, few knew it existed (US News).
And when companies do offer paid sick leave, it’s often inadequate. Many times, workers receive just a handful of days each year (Yahoo! News). Paid Time Off (PTO) policies, which combine vacation and sick days, ensure that employees with medical conditions receive less vacation time than their colleagues (USA Today). Other companies offer inadequate sick leave but allow employees to “donate” sick days to a coworker, leading one Florida teacher to go viral for begging his coworkers for sick days to finish chemotherapy (MarketWatch).
The result? A “near-guarantee that workers will defy public health warnings and trudge into their workplaces, regardless of symptoms” (Inverse). Low-wage jobs where people of color are overrepresented are the least likely to offer paid sick leave, compounding with other racial disparities in health and healthcare (CDC).
Every worker should accrue paid time to recover from illness as a condition of employment. Unionized workers are dramatically more likely to receive paid sick leave than non-union workers. Sick leave and employer-provided health insurance, which union workers almost universally receive (Pew, EPI), are often priorities when unions fight for concessions from employers. Scores of organizations like the NAACP are calling for federal legislation to mandate sick leave for all employees (NAACP), while other focus on just sick leave policies at the state and local levels. Workers shouldn’t have to choose between a paycheck and their health.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
93% of countries mandate paid sick leave for employees. The U.S. does not.
Because of this, nine out of ten U.S. workers work while sick.
Local, state, and federal initiatives, along with workplace organizing, bring us closer to universal paid sick leave.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza