Yes, completely, white people, especially white males have privileges that others do not, but I thought this was explained much better in the environmental racism chapter (I believe chapter 3) than in this article. The article stated that there are often many more contributing factors than race to the white privilege and I feel like "From The Ground Up" really hit on them. There is still segregation in our country, which usually keeps not white people suppressed financially. In our capitalist society, no money usually equals SOL.
I do think the article made some good points for a short article I was just expecting it to seem a little more profound...
And although I know that the points brought up were the most common situation around the United States, I found myself questioning a lot of points. I grew up in Queens, NY, which I believe may actually be the most diverse place in the world. I went to elementary school being one of the only white people. In middle school I was one of three white girls in a mainly latin american student body. My kindergarden teacher was black... after that I had mostly white teachers.
Once I was told by a "good" friend that I had only gotten an A in a class because I was white. I was really offended because I worked really hard in that class... but maybe she was right on a much deeper level than she realized.
I guess this article was a little hard to read because I don't want to be that subconsciously racist white person, but I guess I kind of will be until I start taking real action to help mitigate the negative effects on others from my privilege.
But we have to think about how white privilege works. The united states is mostly white people. As far as I know (and I could just be being completely ignorant), white being the main race is not caused by underlying racism. There is going to be a minority of people no matter where one goes.
So the attitude of the culture needs to change towards minorities. Minorities should be embraced and respected into the culture they are entering, and not just because they are a minority... and they shouldn't have to represent their race either. They should be embraced because they are a human being.
I don't think the bandage issue raised in the article was so terrible. Less people equals less demand. Yes flesh bandages should come in every color, but one also has to be realistic.... right.... ugh I don't know.
I think white privilege is more a cultural attitude problem than it is a factual problem, if that statement makes any sense. The fact is, yes there is affirmative action, but there was slavery and there is still racism, so why shouldn't there be an effort to balance out the injustices toward black people? And why should they be looked down upon for being helped out when most of their race has been put at an extreme disadvantage and white people have always had a power advantage? (Maybe my comment above wasn't quite true because people's attitudes effect facts of society...)
I think that in a predominantly white country, mathematically it is more probable to find a white person in any position, and I don't think that should be a bad thing... Of course, white people have gone over their fair share of probability in power positions for the number of people belonging to other races in our country, but when we talk about privilege if there were more black people in charge than whites, that would show that black people were superior in someway to have been able to outnumber the power positions in a predominantly white society.
I think once again this points to a flawed power system. People in power need to get off their high horses and realize they did not earn their privilege and that they need to make an effort to make things more racially fair. People also need to be more racially aware. A lot of black people don't act the same as white people. I think it would be stupid to assume that, but a lot of white people don't act like a lot of other white people. So, people need to accept each other for their differences and try really hard not to pass negative or delegitimizing judgements on people. We need to work together so that everyone gets what everyone needs, and it has to come from the people. If its not in the people's hearts it will never come true. There will still be institutionalized racism until people try to come together to make things truly just.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Food Security
I think I'm probably just dumb, but I thought food security would be about making sure that food supply was safe. I didn't realize that it would revolve more around making sure that everyone has enough food. I do understand how food banks in a way promote the continuation of social injustice because basically the rich get the good food and the poor get whatever is available for donation or cheaper. I think it is better than the poor starving, but there is an undertone (that once noticed becomes much louder) of the greedy champagne glass going on here.
I like the idea of communities becoming more self sufficient and trying to grow more of their own food in their homes. It would be great it there could be more community gardens and a local food initiative; however, I do understand that if a family is having trouble with its income, that they will probably also have trouble with taking time to grow their own food.
I've heard somewhere that people now spend more time working for their food than they did when they were living off the land. And what do we get for it? GM foods, corn fed cows, chickens raised in the dark... yea I watched food inc :). But we are working harder (or at least longer) to eat potentially worse food.... and often food that we can cook quickly so we don't have to work even longer for it.
Yes we are working for other "privileges" like housing and schooling and medical technology and transportation, but it seems like their are other ways than our exclusionary society to achieve those goals
In our intro to sustainability class we read about the Papa New Guinea Islanders and their bottom up approach. It worked really well for them because they all grew their own food, sometimes helping one another out, and they lived very democratically. Every decision that was made completely together. There were some people who had more influence just by the nature of their personality, but no one lived more extravagantly than anyone else. There were no rich people taking all the good food and leaving the rest to those who made less money than them.
We need stronger communities. People need to work together. Our exclusive society isn't going to get us very far. It will come back to bite us in the butt no doubt about it.
Also people need to stop popping out so many freaking babies. Unless everyone wants to eat hormone cows and GM corn we have to decrease the demand for food. The world cannot naturally support all the people who are coming to it, and it will become a very freaky GM hormone injected place if people keep shoving their mini-me's into the world. If every woman had 1 baby the population would 1/2. If every woman had 2 babies the population would stay the same. But probably no one is going to do that, so you have to think about all the babies other ladies and families are having. If you have 1 baby and adopt a kid you might be being neutral... but if you just adopt you're helping a little more, I think.
I like the idea of communities becoming more self sufficient and trying to grow more of their own food in their homes. It would be great it there could be more community gardens and a local food initiative; however, I do understand that if a family is having trouble with its income, that they will probably also have trouble with taking time to grow their own food.
I've heard somewhere that people now spend more time working for their food than they did when they were living off the land. And what do we get for it? GM foods, corn fed cows, chickens raised in the dark... yea I watched food inc :). But we are working harder (or at least longer) to eat potentially worse food.... and often food that we can cook quickly so we don't have to work even longer for it.
Yes we are working for other "privileges" like housing and schooling and medical technology and transportation, but it seems like their are other ways than our exclusionary society to achieve those goals
In our intro to sustainability class we read about the Papa New Guinea Islanders and their bottom up approach. It worked really well for them because they all grew their own food, sometimes helping one another out, and they lived very democratically. Every decision that was made completely together. There were some people who had more influence just by the nature of their personality, but no one lived more extravagantly than anyone else. There were no rich people taking all the good food and leaving the rest to those who made less money than them.
We need stronger communities. People need to work together. Our exclusive society isn't going to get us very far. It will come back to bite us in the butt no doubt about it.
Also people need to stop popping out so many freaking babies. Unless everyone wants to eat hormone cows and GM corn we have to decrease the demand for food. The world cannot naturally support all the people who are coming to it, and it will become a very freaky GM hormone injected place if people keep shoving their mini-me's into the world. If every woman had 1 baby the population would 1/2. If every woman had 2 babies the population would stay the same. But probably no one is going to do that, so you have to think about all the babies other ladies and families are having. If you have 1 baby and adopt a kid you might be being neutral... but if you just adopt you're helping a little more, I think.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Carsonists and the Distribution of the Champagne Glass in the Name of Sustainability
The champagne glass distribution is a great visual. It makes sense with the richest on top because with money comes power. It makes the rich look very greedy and like they are hording as much as possible and letting the rest trickle or slowly ooze down to the less fortunate in the world. The diagram shows how unstable this structure is, having a poor base is not a good idea when trying to hold up such a heavy rich top. If a gust of wind comes there will be nothing to stop the structure from falling over. Also the support could break from all the weight. This is an incredibly precarious structure.
Under a capitalist structure a society is motivated by money. Money is the priority. Money becomes what rules the world. Not human rights, not environmental equity. Money. Although these may still be important to people, they have to come at least second if money is the motivating factor. If it doesn't make money, it is out of the picture. The world becomes divided into money, and lets think about this. Money is a physical representation of an idea people made up to put worth to something to trade. The world becomes something to trade.
Socialism revolves around the people. People are the priority. I think that is great for people, but then the world becomes divided into people. So basically people take over the world, which does have the potential to hurt the environment... eventually hurting the people.
An environmentalist structure would theoretically work because people are part of the environment. If the priority was everything in the world.... people would be ok. Right?
Burning cars, that symbolize money, represents a demand for a more encompassing system, not just one that allows people to compete for money and buy cars at the cost of others and the planet.
So sustainability. I thought it was my number one value, but it really depends on what context the word is used. If we are talking about sustaining a the world how it is.... hmmm well I don't really want to be a part of that because the world how it is kind of sucks. Well, it is pretty corrupt at least. And it wouldn't be very sustainable because the current structure is about to topple over. It's not really a champagne glass hmmm. It doesn't have a bottom. I've maybe seen some disposable one's like that... like the taster kind or something. It's a greedy oozy pool of maple syrup with a little hole in the middle maybe. Its not gonna last that for sure. Its gonna run out of the sweet stuff at some point. Or its gonna freeze and shatter from the bottom. But either way it won't last.
Here's to a refreshing cocktail!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Buttonwillow
These cases are definitely starting on some level to muddle together. Time and time again we see courts passing cases that just don't seem legal, people in positions of power (and often with an agenda) playing deaf to residents' concerns.
The author's tone did not give us much false hope for a success story this time. I was pretty sure that the waste facility would have its way this time. Although the Buttonwillow community faced similar obstacles to the other stories, some things did seem different this time. It was hard to distinguish if it was how Padres and the community tackled the case, or if the odds were just completely against them.
I feel like the cases in Chester and Kettleman had a stronger community bond and drive than Buttonwillow did. This may have been because those communities were dominantly one race, and Buttonwillow was more divided and it was primarily the Mexican community fighting back with little to know help from the white and black community (at least that was the impression the book gave me).
I feel like the other communities had more momentum. It seemed like there were a lot of pauses with the Buttonwillow community. I'm not positive that the lack of momentum came more from the people or the circumstances they were put under. I feel like that didn't happen as much in Chester and Kettleman. I could just be remembering wrong though...
I would like to know more about language controversy in the US for immigrant workers and citizens. Although I do think it is fair that someone should be able to understand a document that contains information that could directly effect them, I would like to better understand what is expected in terms of English ability to become a citizen.
I think the language controversy goes way deeper than this case. It goes to immigration laws and how people feel about that, and then it goes down to why people from places like... Mexico want to come here and what role our government plays in their government. I think what Montoya says at the end of the chapter sums up the situation really well: "in Mexico they do what the do outside of the law. And in the U.S. they want to make the laws legitimate what they do. In other words, they want to make tings appear legal."
Its going to take a real change in perception and awareness and people willing to think a little harder to end all this insane corruption and deeply rooted racism.
Good luck world <3
The author's tone did not give us much false hope for a success story this time. I was pretty sure that the waste facility would have its way this time. Although the Buttonwillow community faced similar obstacles to the other stories, some things did seem different this time. It was hard to distinguish if it was how Padres and the community tackled the case, or if the odds were just completely against them.
I feel like the cases in Chester and Kettleman had a stronger community bond and drive than Buttonwillow did. This may have been because those communities were dominantly one race, and Buttonwillow was more divided and it was primarily the Mexican community fighting back with little to know help from the white and black community (at least that was the impression the book gave me).
I feel like the other communities had more momentum. It seemed like there were a lot of pauses with the Buttonwillow community. I'm not positive that the lack of momentum came more from the people or the circumstances they were put under. I feel like that didn't happen as much in Chester and Kettleman. I could just be remembering wrong though...
I would like to know more about language controversy in the US for immigrant workers and citizens. Although I do think it is fair that someone should be able to understand a document that contains information that could directly effect them, I would like to better understand what is expected in terms of English ability to become a citizen.
I think the language controversy goes way deeper than this case. It goes to immigration laws and how people feel about that, and then it goes down to why people from places like... Mexico want to come here and what role our government plays in their government. I think what Montoya says at the end of the chapter sums up the situation really well: "in Mexico they do what the do outside of the law. And in the U.S. they want to make the laws legitimate what they do. In other words, they want to make tings appear legal."
Its going to take a real change in perception and awareness and people willing to think a little harder to end all this insane corruption and deeply rooted racism.
Good luck world <3
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Logistics of Racism
"Racial neutrality." Lets think about this concept. Racial neutrality would be a pretty hard thing to accomplish in such a diverse and complex world. There would have to be very conscious considerations and efforts taken to make something racially neutral. In fact it is probably impossible, but there are ways to attempt to make a system seem more fair.
I thought this quote was great: "Although most of these criteria appear neutral on their face, as we have explained, many actually have profound racial implications." So there are actually political consulting firms like the Cerrell Associates of LA that write reports, one called Political Difficulties Facing Waste-to-Energy Conversion Plant Citing (I can never get over how unassuming they make these names sound), that describes the kind of community that would offer "the least potential of generating public opposition." Some of the supposedly race neutral criteria for these communities (land distribution for instance) end linking back to slavery.... thats not racist at all!
There haven't been persistent or genuine enough measures taken to mitigate segregative effects of slavery and racism. Racism is still there. Its really really there, it didn't go anywhere. We have just found ways to lie to ourselves and set up political and economic systems where we can hide and make a face value attempt to say that something isn't racist... when it is. It has just been veiled.... as "lifestyle" and "market dynamics." I do have to admit that little section kind of went over my head, and I think its because the ideas themselves don't actually make any sense. They are incredibly superficial and ignorant to a much deeper social and cultural context.
None of this racist system really makes any sense. Institutionalization. We have come up with so many ways to turn a blind eye to racism. Even if we were blind wouldn't really disappear because the effects of racism already produced inequalities that could potentially be race neutral. "State permitting laws remain neutral, or blind, toward these inequalities; they therefore perpetuate, and indeed exacerbate, distributional inequalities."
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Chester Residents Concerned for Quality of Life. Chapter 2: The Political Economy of Env Racism
Wow. What a struggle these people have gone through and continue to fight. I can't believe (well, I can) how corrupt our legal system is. The whole dialogue between Jerome Balter and the justice was really fascinating, especially the justice's quote: "Mr. Balter, around here I am the law."
The judges seemed to feel really comfortable and open about corruptly interpreting the law. It doesn't make sense how "the maximum capacity of a covered facility located in the eastern zone could be no greater than 10,765 tons per year" (which is no small amount, and keep in mind this number is not for a whole region but for a single facility, which could be one of many, in a region), and although Thermal Pure's permit allowed them to produce nearly ten times the legal amount, the most powerful legal system in PA didn't seem to see a problem.
I also have to point out here that I think it is really funny that a medical waste company, a really disgusting sounding facility, hides behind an unassuming name like Thermal Pure. Medical waste sterilization would not be my first guess when trying to figure out the function of a company called Thermal Pure. I might have better luck if they called it something like Guts and Garbage... or... I don't know I guess I'm not very good at this and that's why I don't get hired to name medical waste companies.
It seems as if there were so many highly illegal plots and actions taken against these people. The openly corrupt decisions made by the so called "justices," the bribes, the lies and ignoring. These people could not rely on the help of the law because the people in charge of the law were against them. Its kind of interesting that so much illegal action can be taken before someone might take action to enforce it to stop. Its funny how your not guilty unless your proven guilty, which most of the time I'm all about, but when a system refuses to charge guilty action that has been proven guilty, things don't work out so great.
When I think about how I said in the beginning that I couldn't believe how corrupt our legal system was, I was lying. I'm actually really subconsciously aware about it... if that statement makes any sense. If I'm aware of it why don't I do anything about it? I'm pretty sure its because at the moment I don't feel I have the ability to do anything about it, at least nothing obvious jumps out at me. So it takes a back burner, and I think thats how a lot of people feel. Or they just can't believe that their own government would consciously not care about them.
We have a really flawed system. We might need to start over or something. Think back to the old days when people lived in harmony with their surroundings for millions more years than our unsustainable "civilized" (or as Ishmael would put it "taker") lifestyle has been around. I love that CRCQL joined forces with college students and formed C4. Social change has to be in the youth to be continued. I hope more youth are able to learn about some issues that actually matter. Unfortunately a lot of the time our education system seems to prevent anything ground breaking from happening through young people. I'm gonna start a school. Really though. Its gonna be cool. A high school. actually a league of high schools. but really, its my business plan for entrepreneurship :D empower youth and shake some earth. yea! ciao!
The judges seemed to feel really comfortable and open about corruptly interpreting the law. It doesn't make sense how "the maximum capacity of a covered facility located in the eastern zone could be no greater than 10,765 tons per year" (which is no small amount, and keep in mind this number is not for a whole region but for a single facility, which could be one of many, in a region), and although Thermal Pure's permit allowed them to produce nearly ten times the legal amount, the most powerful legal system in PA didn't seem to see a problem.
I also have to point out here that I think it is really funny that a medical waste company, a really disgusting sounding facility, hides behind an unassuming name like Thermal Pure. Medical waste sterilization would not be my first guess when trying to figure out the function of a company called Thermal Pure. I might have better luck if they called it something like Guts and Garbage... or... I don't know I guess I'm not very good at this and that's why I don't get hired to name medical waste companies.
It seems as if there were so many highly illegal plots and actions taken against these people. The openly corrupt decisions made by the so called "justices," the bribes, the lies and ignoring. These people could not rely on the help of the law because the people in charge of the law were against them. Its kind of interesting that so much illegal action can be taken before someone might take action to enforce it to stop. Its funny how your not guilty unless your proven guilty, which most of the time I'm all about, but when a system refuses to charge guilty action that has been proven guilty, things don't work out so great.
When I think about how I said in the beginning that I couldn't believe how corrupt our legal system was, I was lying. I'm actually really subconsciously aware about it... if that statement makes any sense. If I'm aware of it why don't I do anything about it? I'm pretty sure its because at the moment I don't feel I have the ability to do anything about it, at least nothing obvious jumps out at me. So it takes a back burner, and I think thats how a lot of people feel. Or they just can't believe that their own government would consciously not care about them.
We have a really flawed system. We might need to start over or something. Think back to the old days when people lived in harmony with their surroundings for millions more years than our unsustainable "civilized" (or as Ishmael would put it "taker") lifestyle has been around. I love that CRCQL joined forces with college students and formed C4. Social change has to be in the youth to be continued. I hope more youth are able to learn about some issues that actually matter. Unfortunately a lot of the time our education system seems to prevent anything ground breaking from happening through young people. I'm gonna start a school. Really though. Its gonna be cool. A high school. actually a league of high schools. but really, its my business plan for entrepreneurship :D empower youth and shake some earth. yea! ciao!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Chapter 1: A History of the Environmental Justice Movement
It was interesting to learn that there is not just one single environmental movement, but that there are several different kinds each with specific discrepancies.
It makes sense that the environmental justice movement would be related to the civil rights movements, the toxics movement (which I was completely unaware of), and the native american's struggles. I did find it a little odd that they put the native americans as fourth for leading up to the environmental justice movements. It seems to me that their struggles came before the civil rights movement and the toxics issues. I almost felt like there could have been a bit of subconscious racism or discrimination on culture going on in the priority list.
Academia was not something I would have put in the list off the top of my head, but it makes complete sense that it contributed to the movement. Being knowledgeable can help to back up any cause. Educating people makes it harder for them to justify continuing a harmful practice that they may have been ignorant about before.
I was a little surprised to here about the first wave environmentalists in organizations such as the Sierra Club being so opposed to helping the degradation of poor people's environment. I would think that an environmental group would be concerned about all environments, not just environments that rich white people like to spend their time in.
"We see the Environmental Justice Movement as separate from and as transcending the environmental movement - as a movement based on environmental issues but situated within the movements for social justice." Part of me likes this quote but part of me has a small problem with it. This quote reminds me of the book we read in my ecopsychology class, "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. "Ishmael" makes the point that humans now view themselves as separate and superior from nature. Because of this, they have upset the natural balance and are the reason for the destruction of the planet. When they put the Environmental Justice Movement inside the movement for social justice, to me it seems that they are placing the environment as second to people, as just a benefit for people. To me the health of the whole planet (which includes people) is more important than the health of just the people. I know that this isn't necessarily what they were getting at, but that is a thought subtly seems to be apparent when I hear that statement.
The quote also reminds me of Ishmael because the book says that the reason the social movements of the 60's didn't work was that people didn't understand they were following a cultural myth that led them to an incomplete conclusion. It seems like the environment was a major missing component. With the emergence of the environmental movement, it seems like people were becoming a missing component.
I think that since people are most concerned with their own well being it makes sense that the environmental justice movement would come from social justice. People's health depends on their environment. I am glad that people are becoming more aware that their own health depends on the health of their surroundings.
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