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environment

‘Environmentalist’ Doesn’t Just Mean White and Wealthy

This article discusses a study on perceptions of environmentalists and concern about the environment that challenges stereotypical notions of environmentalists. The study found that while the most common image of an environmentalist is a wealthy, college-educated white person, people of color and people from low-income backgrounds express a higher level of concern for the environment. They go on to discuss a need for the environmental movement to move towards environmental justice and become more inclusive. For more read here.

Examining Equitable and Inclusive Work Environments in Environmental Education

This report explores how Environmental Education organizations are engaging in equity, diversity and inclusion practices and identifies strategies and tools on how to improve those practices. The study draws on research conducted with majority white organizational leaders and environmental educators of color and highlights a disconnect between those group’s perceptions of DEI work in their organizations. For more read here.

Leaking Talent: How People of Color are Pushed out of Environmental Organizations

This report by Green 2.0 investigates the factors that impact the retention and promotions of people of color within the environmental movement. Some of the key findings are that increasing transparency around promotion practices, focusing on employee development and incorporating justice, equity, diversity and inclusion practices into the mission improves the intention to stay for all employees, white and POC. For more read here.

Indigenous People and Borderlands

This resource provides a number of resources surrounding Indigenous people who live in international borderlands between the US and Mexico. It has resources that discuss the rights of Indigenous people who have been negatively impacted by US-Mexico immigration policies, the histories of Indigenous nations along the border and the settler-colonial paradigms that shape policy. For more read here.

The Fish Wars

This is a in-depth lesson plan put together about The Fish Wars of the 1960s and 70s between Indigenous nations and the states of Oregon and Washington, in which the state governments violated the treaty rights of native people and unconstitutionally barred their access to fishing. This is a great resources for educators and students to learn about The Fish Wars and the rights of Native American sovereign nations. For more read here.

The Great Land Robbery

This article offers an in-depth look at the history of dispossession of land of black farmers in the American South. It focuses on the story of one multi-generational family of black farmers to illustrate how racist policy and actions forced hundreds of thousands of black farmers off of their land during the 20th century. The author also addresses how policies leading to a lack of land ownership contributes to the significant wealth gap between white and and black families in America. For more read here.

A Red Deal

This articles introduces the idea of a “Red New Deal” that ties Indigenous liberation into a demand for sweeping environmental changes. The author also reviews how New Deal economic development relied on the displacement of Indigenous communities from their homes and the destruction of their land. They suggest that policymakers must learn from the consequences of past policies and must choose to center indigenous voices in the new environmental movement. For more read here.

Decolonizing Environmental Education

This is a Zine put together that can be used as a tool to begin the work of changing and decolonizing the field of environmental education. The Zine shares personal experiences of POC and Indigenous environmental educators and activists, provides links to numerous articles and resources and offers tools on how to call for systemic environmental justice. For more read here.

Environmentalism’s Racist History

This article in the New Yorker discusses the how racist ideologies are intertwined with the creation of the conservation movement in the early 20th century. It also provides historical links to the present that show how the environmental movement has not focused on the needs of communities of color. For more read here.

The Environmental Movement Needs to Reckon with Its Racist History

This article calls for the contemporary environmental movement to address a deeply imbedded history of racism, which dates back to early conservationists, like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, who were also white supremacists. They also detail the history of the environmental justice movement and how contemporary environmental organizations and policy goals need to do more to address the tenants of environmental justice. For more read here. 

‘Bees, not refugees’: the environmentalist roots of anti-immigrant bigotry

This article discusses a long history of “eco-xenophobia” in America by drawing connections between the motivations behind the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, anti-immigration sentiments in the Sierra Club and early conservationists. For more read here.

Redwoods and Hitler: the link between nature conservation and the eugenics movement

This article explores the often-overlooked links between early 20th century conservation and eugenics. They discuss how three prominent conservationists, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Madison Grant and John C. Merriam, who were responsible for the preservation of the redwoods in California, were also leading figures in eugenic thought. For example, Madison Grant wrote a book called “The Passing of the Great Race”, which Hitler later referred to as his “bible”. For more read here.