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Study Hall! How to be a better ally, petitions, and plastics.
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Thank you, thank you for your thoughtful questions this week. We get some nasty mail (who knew Trader Joe's was so controversial) so I truly appreciate every kind inquiry mixed in. Today we're diving deeper into all the key themes we outlined this week.
For the new readers, we know there's a lot of content to catch up. We're working on organizing the first 50 days of content into a book or course for easy review. Interested in helping us out? Send a message!
We're posting daily recaps on Instagram @antiracismdaily and will be holding more Study Hall sessions on our Patreon starting next week! Excited to keep learning with you.
This email is free but you're welcome to make a one-time contribution on our website or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). Or, pledge $5/month on Patreon.
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
1. Reflect on the questions prompted by our community.
2. Ask yourself two questions about one of the topics we discussed this week. Discuss these questions with a friend or colleague.
GET EDUCATED
You referenced the criticism that a white / white-passing person advocating for TJs to change their packaging. How should white allies support movements, then?
From Don't Americanize other cultures on July 22
It's important to center the voices of marginalized people in any movement. Sometimes, intentionally or otherwise, allies will co-opt movements already started by people of color. Often white allies, benefiting from their power and privilege, will gain more attention and progress with this movement, and consequently, the voices of BIPOC people get lost in the mix.
I was surprised that Bedell's petition didn't mention Viviane Eng's article – or the fact that Trader Joe's had already responded to Eng and said that actions to change the names were in progress. I also was surprised to see that there weren't any quotes from people of color on their perspective, or any co-creators of the petition that identified as people of color. As a result, it is Bedell that is centered in the press and interviews.
This example is relatively harmless, but often, it can lead to more dire consequences – like workplaces creating new programs and initiatives without the input of the people impacted, or political movements that don't reflect the needs of the communities experiencing harm. When doing the work, ask who else needs to be in the room. Consider who may already be doing the work, and how you could amplify them instead of creating your own campaign.
The petition for the bridge name isn't what all the local leaders in Alabama want, but you encouraged us to sign it anyway. Why?
From Honor the legacy of Rep. John Lewis on July 21
Petitions are powerful for a few reasons, even if they're not successful. First, they help raise awareness of issues, especially as they grow in popularity. They're also good for swaying public opinion. In this case, more encouragement towards Governor Kay Ivey to change the name isn't a bad thing! Also, signing a petition keeps us all informed of how the issue progresses after it passes from the headlines, and I think this is an important conversation to stay subscribed to. You can learn more about the power of petitions in the NYTimes. One of you lovely readers sent me a WHOLE email about the power of petitions weeks ago, but it's now lost in my inbox. If you're reading this and remember sending, kindly forward to me again!
Also, remember that signing a petition doesn't magically make things change. Alabama local leaders are the ultimate decision-makers in changing the name of the bridge, so have full capacity to make the decision. I am hoping that the creator of this petition is planning on working with the community, and not create a massive battle to have it done his way. I noticed after I wrote this email that there's now a nonprofit organization attached to the cause. It doesn't have any team listed on the website, so I'm not sure about any local representation behind it.
If I had seen a petition that was designed for the local community, I would have added that in its place. Either way, I feel that our efforts overall are more useful in advocating for the Voting Rights Advancement Act, but I know some of you already did that from our voter suppression newsletter! I try to give multiple ways for us to take action so we can get in the practice of doing so.
My family and I decided that moving to X community is best for our budget and lifestyle, but it's a gentrifying neighborhood and we would be part of gentrification. What should we do?
From Protect your community from the harm of gentrification on July 20
It's great that you're recognizing that you're part of the problem. Whether or not we like to admit it, we are all working in a systemic that's inherently inequitable and often complicit. That's why this work is so critical.
I shared this resource at the end of the newsletter, and it's worth revisiting in full:
https://newrepublic.com/article/144260/stop-gentrification
And also recommend this article about gentrification in SF:
https://www.sfgate.com/expensive-san-francisco/article/gentrification-sf-oakland-san-francisco-vallejo-13293754.php
Put short, be prepared to take on the responsibility of protecting this new community from harm. Get involved in local politics and support community organizers advocating for housing justice. If that sounds like too much work or too much of a burden, consider whether you deserve to join that community at all.
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There's no 'get out of jail free' card. You can't do all the right things and absolve yourself so that you're no longer a gentrifier, just like you can't no longer be white. But you can check your biases, acknowledge your privilege, and fight the systems that create gentrification.
Megan Orpwood-Russell, an organizer for housing advocacy group YAH! (Yes to Affordable Housing!) in SFGate
Trump is a racist president! And Biden is racist, too! What president HASN'T done something racist?!
From Know our racist presidential history on July 23
Trump had a whole newsletter dedicated to him back in June, and Biden isn't a president, but yes, as many of the resources we linked to state, is not perfect. (Biden will get much more coverage here as the election nears). And if the exercise made you realize that perhaps all of our presidents have become complicit in practices and policies that uphold systemic racism, including Barack Obama, then the exercise worked. And although some presidents have clearly been much more egregious in the harm they've created, we have to understand how we got here, how we're still here, and how necessary it is to choose differently this time 'round.
Also it's important to note that presidents alone are not responsible for systemic racism. In fact, take this same level of criticism to your local representatives and policy makers, many of whom are perpetuating the same systemic oppression in your local community.
Why should we still recycle if it's not working? Especially if environmental racism is bigger than ourselves?
From Reduce your plastic consumption on July 24
Individual actions are critical to the work we do, even if we're collectively not making progress. The articles mentioned that decreasing our consumption can fundamentally transform the future, so it would be a miss not to hold ourselves accountable.
Changing environmental racism systemically calls for much broader initiatives that, in this case, weren't directly rooted in plastics. But don't you worry – we'll be doing much more to address environmental racism in our work moving forward.
If you're ever reading this and think "goodness, we should also be doing this and this and this" as part of our daily action, that's amazing. Do it! Especially if you see ways to address these issues in your own community. We're working to add more localized actions to our newsletters, but right now we've got readers signed up from all over the globe and very limited targeting options. However, you can sign up for ARD Actions based on your community by texting "ARD LOCAL" to (718) 715-4359.
Also, kudos to Leigh and Cody for noting that our first action could have been worded better – because not consuming plastics altogether is more important than finding eco-friendly alternatives. Don't throw out something old to replace it with something eco-friendly! Cody recommended the following change:
Choose one product that you own that's made of (or packaged in) plastic. Use it until it is broken or exhausted, and then once it breaks either don't buy a new one or replace it with an eco-friendly alternative. Here's a list of Black-owned eco-friendly products.
CLARIFICATIONS
From Know our racist presidential history on July 23
The internment of Japanese-Americans in California indeed happened in World War II, not World War I as our article states, which will be fixed in our archives. Thank you to the reader that pointed out that internment also happened throughout the Southwest, not just in California (Archives).
Miscellaneous
A reader noted that our emails have readability issues in dark mode. I'll update our template to fix that for the week ahead.
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.
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Reduce your plastic consumption.
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Happy Friday! We all have a tendency to buy, purchase and consume various things throughout a single day without thinking twice about where they came from, who labored to create them, how they were produced, and what communities and ecosystems are impacted by their disposal.
Did you know this month is Plastic-Free July? Welcome to the work of creating a world free of plastic waste. “The Plastic Free July campaign was started in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz in Western Australia who later founded the not-for-profit Plastic Free Foundation Ltd in 2017” (CNN).
When thinking about the way we do or don’t consume, it is important to acknowledge how cultures, access, and beliefs shape our relationship to things. I hope today’s newsletter helps you reflect on your own consumption habits and waste.
Chante Harris, Guest Contributor
Your contributions are greatly appreciated. If you can, consider making a one-time gift on our website or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). Or, pledge $5/month on Patreon.
TAKE ACTION
Choose one product that you own that's made of (or packaged in) plastic. Pledge to replace it with an eco-friendly alternative. Here's a list of Black-owned eco-friendly products.
Choose one plastic free action from the Plastic Free Foundation and commit to doing it through the end of August.
Subscribe to at least one environmentalist of color. The Collective Resiliency Summit taking place on July 31st is a great place to start.
GET EDUCATED
It’s Plastic Free July, an initiative designed to help us reduce our global consumption of plastic. But Evaluating Scenarios Toward Zero Plastic Pollution, a paper published by Science on Thursday, July 23, indicated that our efforts to reduce plastic waste are "wildly insufficient" (Fortune). Let’s take a closer look at the intersection of plastic, waste, and environmental racism.
8% to 10% of our total oil supply goes to making plastic, in fact, an estimated 12 million barrels of oil a year are used just for making plastic bags used in the U.S. (1 Bag at a Time). The Science paper notes that humans are unloading 29 million metric tons of bottles, bags, and microplastics (little bits smaller than 5 millimeters) into the oceans annually, equaling 110 pounds per beach meter (Science). Consumed and undesired plastic products typically end up in either landfills, incinerators, the environment, or a recycling facility.
Plastic products are often consumed more in lower-income BIPOC communities, due to the taxpayer-subsidized low sales prices that incentivize companies to use it (Sierra Club). But these communities are often under-resourced to properly dispose of plastic waste than a high-income area (Wired). Together, these factors place marginalized communities at greater risks of consuming toxic chemicals in the plastic such as bisphenol A (BPA) and microplastics than more resourced areas (Sierra Club).
And all waste does not impact communities equally. Landfills have historically been placed in or near BIPOC neighborhoods. One of the distinct characteristics of garbage incinerators in the United States is that they are often sited in communities of color and low-income communities, also referred to as environmental justice (EJ) communities. 58 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) incinerators – 79% of all incinerators in the U.S. – are located in environmental justice communities (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).
The incineration industry is a key demonstration of infrastructure strategically positioned in certain communities and not others. Environmental advocates have recognized for decades how these waste facilities prevent environmental justice. They also contribute to the cumulative and disproportionate pollution placed on communities of color and low-income communities (Tishman Environment and Design Center).
A few years back I had the pleasure of working on the East Harlem Healthy Neighborhood Action Plan and it became clear to me as I explored social determinants of health further that climate change and public health were not two separate communities. Communities with little to no landfills, incinerators, trucking, and bus depots have lower rates of asthma and cardiac disease. Additionally, studies show that where more incinerators are located there is a decrease in recycling, composting, and waste reduction due to perverse incentives to burn more waste.
“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere”.
Annie Leonard, The Story of Stuff
The disproportionate impact of environmental threats on Black, Indigenous, and people of color is referred to as environmental racism. Environmental racism exists as the inverse of environmental justice, when environmental risks are allocated disproportionately along the lines of race, often without the input of the affected communities of color (The Atlantic). It is important to acknowledge that those impacted the most by the climate crisis are victims to decades and centuries of norms, values, regulations, behaviors, and policies that have made it this way today.
The Anti-Racism Daily has covered other topics related to environmental racism in our recent coverage of COVID-19, including air pollution and the needs of the Navajo Nation.
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“In terms of defining environmental justice, we have to start from the beginning, as you don’t have justice without injustice first. Environmental injustice for Native people is about being forcibly cut off from their source of life sustenance. Native people are inseparable from their lands in terms of their cultures and their identities”.
Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Indigenous Scholar and Journalist, for Gizmodo
Since the late 1900s, the environmental movement has been pushed to center the knowledge and lived experiences of people of color. The reduction of the number of plastics used will lessen the unfair burden diverse communities carry. If everyone worked to decrease their use of plastic, we would be able to decrease fracking substantially, preserve wildlife, protect coastal communities, and improve the health conditions of BIPOC communities across the globe.
In 2020, people still have a tendency to view the causes of climate change as separate from their daily actions. And although it’s clear that policies accelerate these disparities, we still need to do our part. Let’s analyze our consumption as an environmental and anti-racist act. The future of a just and green planet relies on every single person, particularly those with access to resources, to take action that calls for larger societal changes.
Chante Harris
Chante is an urban innovation and civics champion scaling sustainable and impactful technologies and ideas that cultivate the world we all want to live in. She has worked to scale nationwide campaigns, technologies, and ideas for the Obama Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and startups that prioritize community and solve complex urban problems. She is also the co-founder of Women of Color Collective in Sustainability (WOC/CS).
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Despite our efforts to reduce plastic consumption, a recent study indicates our progress is insufficient to make change
The consumption and waste from plastics disproportionately affects BIPOC communities
Environmental racism is a term that analyzes how environmental risks are allocated disproportionately
We need to look at our eco-conscious efforts as both environmentally-friendly and an act of anti-racism
Related Issues
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