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- teaching lesson plans for environmental racism

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Vocabulary

pollution [ p uh- loo-sh uhn ] (noun) material in the natural environment that does not belong there, and that damages the environment and living things, including people

inequality [ in-i- kwol-i-tee ] (noun) unfairness; a situation in which some people gain privileges simply because they are members of a group defined by race, wealth, sexual orientation or other factors. Those who are not members of those groups are denied the same privileges.

environmental justice [ en- vahy-r uhn-m uhnt-l juhs-tis ] (noun) The fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, incomes and educational levels with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies

environmental racism [ en- vahy-r uhn-m uhnt-l rey-siz-m ] (noun) the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color

Procedure

1. This lesson is about pollution, and why it affects some groups of people more than others. Working with a small group, clarify some definitions by answering these questions. What is pollution? What are some of its causes? What are some effects of pollution?

2. Now think about who is affected most by pollution. List your answers in the left-hand column of the chart called The Effects of Pollution: Who and Why. When you've got your list, look at the right-hand column. Think about why each group of people is affected by pollution. For example, if the left-hand column reads "people with asthma," then in the right-hand column you might write "because they have a physical health issue."

3. When you've filled in the chart, look to see if your list includes any groups of people who are affected by pollution for reasons besides their physical health. For example, do you have low-income people on your list? If not, add it to the left column, and discuss with your group why low-income people might be more affected by pollution than those who have more money.

4. Then add "members of race and ethnic minority groups" to the left-hand column if it's not already there, because members of race and ethnic minority groups are more likely to be exposed to pollution than others. Fill in the right-hand column with the reason(s) why this might be true.

5. Now look at the map Air Pollution in Minority Areas. This is a map of Connecticut. Use the guidelines below to help you interpret the information it presents. With your group, look at the key.

What two kinds of information does the map show?

What do the yellow dots represent?

What do the different shades of blue represent?

What do you notice about where the yellow dots are concentrated?

Write a sentence or two summarizing what the map shows.

Write a sentence or two explaining why the situation that the map shows exists.

What is unfair about the situation the map shows? Why might it be difficult for the people in the polluted areas to move somewhere less polluted?

Read the definition of environmental justice. What would a more environmentally just situation look like on the map?

At this point select from option 1 or 2 to conclude this lesson.
Option 1 (for a more in-depth discussion and unpacking of the concept of environmental bias):

6. As you have seen from the map of Connecticut, one way that members of race and ethnic minorities sometimes experience discrimination is the fact that air pollution sources are more likely to be located in the areas where they live. Another group that sometimes experiences discrimination is defined by their income. There is evidence that one place that income-based discrimination shows up is that people of lower economic status are more likely to live in areas near pollutants than those with higher status. Look at this evidence of the relationship of income to exposure to pollution by studying some graphs of data gathered in Massachusetts.

a. Look at graphic 1 Exposure to Chemical Releases According to Income. Write a sentence under the graph that summarizes in words what it shows. Then do the same for graphic 2 Exposure to Hazardous Waste Sites According to Income. What relationship do the graphs show between income and exposure to pollution?

b. Complete the same tasks for the two remaining graphs 3 and 4: Exposure to Hazardous Waste Sites According to Race and Exposure to Chemical Releases According to Race. What relationship do the graphs show between race and exposure to pollution?

7. The data show that race and income are connected to exposure to pollution. As a class, discuss reasons why that might be true. Define the term "environmental bias." Do you think environmental bias is happening in the situations shown in the graphs? In other words, do you think that it is an institutionalized system that unfairly deprives people of the right not to be exposed to toxins? Do you think it is an institutionalized system that unfairly protects some people from such exposure simply because of their race, ethnicity, or financial status? Why or why not?

8. Look at your own community, town, or state. What examples of environmental biases do you see? For example, do highways, with their noise and pollution, cut through neighborhoods where people who are poor live? Do people who are members of poor and/or minority communities live near power plants that pollute the air? Then see if there are any groups that are addressing these inequalities. If so, contact them to see how you can help. If not, look at what groups in other areas are doing to address environmental biases. What can you do to address similar problems in your area?
Option 2:
6. Think about your community.

a. What source(s) of pollution exist? For example, does a major highway cut through your town, exposing residents to a lot of noise and fumes? Is there a landfill or a hazardous waste disposal area? Is there a power plant that is noisy and puts smoke into the air?

b. Who lives in the areas where these pollutants are concentrated? Is there a pattern similar to what you saw on the map of Connecticut?

c. Are there any organizations or individuals in your area talking about the situation being unjust?

7. What would a more environmentally just situation look like in your community?

Find out about efforts in your area to secure environmental justice. If there is a local organization, invite a member to speak to your class. If not, see if you can start a group at your school to learn more about environmental justice.

Summarizing What You've Learned

One way to consolidate what you've learned is to summarize it. Think of it as explaining what you've learned to someone who doesn't know anything about it. Do this using one of the following techniques, or use one of your own.

Write a paragraph.

Make a bulleted list of the key points.

Make a slide show (with or without illustrations).

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pollution [ p uh- loo-sh uhn ] (noun) material in the natural environment that does not belong there, and that damages the environment and living things, including people inequality [ in-i- kwol-i-tee ] (noun) unfairness; a situation in which some people gain privileges simply because they are members of a group defined by race, wealth, sexual orientation or other factors.

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White People: I Don’t Want You To Understand Me Better, I Want You To Understand Yourselves

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Your survival has never depended on your knowledge of white culture. In fact, it's required your ignorance.

White People: I Don't Want You To Understand Me Better, I Want You To Understand Yourselves

H i white person in my DMs, let me respond here in the hopes that I never have to again.

Almost every day I get a message like yours from a random white person - on Facebook, Twitter, or email - offering to provide me...

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White People: I Want You To Understand Yourselves Better

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White People: I Don't Want You To Understand Me Better, I Want You To Understand Yourselves H i white person in my DMs, let me respond here in the hopes that I never have to again. Almost every day I get a message like yours from a random white person - on Facebook, Twitter, or email - offering to provide me...

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Comparing anti-Black racism in Canada and the US by Ottawa-born prof

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Comparing anti-Black racism in Canada and the US by Ottawa-born prof

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Follow @PaulMolpeceres

Canadians tend to tell themselves that issues of racism are not as bad as in the United States. Some, according to Anthony Stewart, will go as far as to proclaim that racism is not a problem here.

An important contributor to studies on race relations in Canada and the U.S., Stewart, spoke about what it means to be a black Canadian in the 21st century as part of the Talking Black to Canada lecture series at McGill University.

He is the author of Visitor: My Life in Canada, which explores race relations in Canada-a country lauded worldwide for its multicultural richness, but in reality plagued with issues regarding race identity.

Standing 6'6'' tall, Stewart's second book You Must be a Basketball Player: Rethinking Integration in the University, is inspired by always being called one in public.

"As I got older, what I hoped was that that interpretation of me would stop," he said. "What has happened now is that strangers will ask me if I'm a basketball coach."

Armed with a PhD from Queen's University and currently an English professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, Stewart spent the hour exploring the theme of what it means to be black in Canada, and-as part of a larger context-North America.

When he was young, Stewart says he was impacted by "the cliché of Canadian masculinity that every Canadian boy wants to grow up to play in the NHL."

"My claims to my own Canadian-ness were under constant strain," he said. "The way things are now is not the only way to imagine Canada."

People of all races and ethnicities gathered in a small room in McGill's arts building. Touching on the theories of myth and ideology of philosophers Louis Althusser and Roland Barthes, Stewart demonstrated how, in a way, we've become complacent with the current racial situation in this country. He also addressed the issue of police and black men.

Growing up in Kanata, Ontario, Stewart talked about being the only black kid in his school and the struggles that came with it. He explained how one of the issues with racism in Canada is that while Canada calls itself a haven for immigrants and refugees alike, there are still many deep-rooted preconceptions of what it truly means to be Canadian.

Being of Caribbean descent growing up in suburban Ontario, that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

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Canadian Academic Anthony Stewart Speaks about Race in Canada | News

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Follow @PaulMolpeceres Canadians tend to tell themselves that issues of racism are not as bad as in the United States. Some, according to Anthony Stewart, will go as far as to proclaim that racism is not a problem here.

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Why the term 'people of colour"  is offensive

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Why the term 'people of colour"  is offensive

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Living in the shadow of the United States, it is inevitable that Canadians will absorb and be influenced by aspects of American culture - good and bad. But one that, regrettably, Canadian media are adopting with increasing regularity is the American term "people of colour" to describe all those who are not white.

In newspapers, on radio and television, the term is becoming the accepted shorthand for Blacks, Latinos, Arabs, Asians and other non-whites. "Canadian people of colour," "Canadians of colour," and "Communities of colour" are not uncommon in headlines and stories. During last fall's federal election, a TV anchor called NDP leader Jagmeet Singh a "person of colour." Former Whitby Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes was described as a "woman of colour."

Adam: Why the term 'people of colour' is offensive to so many Back to video

Though not as widely embraced by Canadian ethnic communities as it is in the U.S., use of the term is, worryingly, very much on the rise.

I recognize that some non-white Canadians embrace it. I also recognize that those who use the term are not being disrespectful. They mean well. But meaning well isn't the point. The problem is putting all non-white people in one box and assuming it's fine.

I am African. I am Black. I am not a person of colour. If you feel the need to describe me by race or ethnicity, call me African. If you want to define me by colour, call me Black. That's who I am. Don't call me a person of colour. It undermines my identity and offends me.

Of course, there's always the old question of why white, every bit as much a colour as black or brown, is left out of the debate about the colour of people.

"The term 'people of colour' is particularly problematic," says Amina Mire, a Carleton University professor of sociology and anthropology whose speciality includes racialization. "It suggests that whiteness is not a colour. In my work, I often use 'non-white people' instead of 'people of colour.' "

"If you think about it, all people have colour," adds University of Ottawa sociologist and social demographer Fernando Mata.

The term however, is widely accepted in the U.S., where most African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and others, including politicians, civil rights leaders and activists embrace it as a term of solidarity and empowerment.

"People of colour" gained popularity around the 1980s as Black and other minority community leaders sought strength and power in numbers by coming together as one, powerful, unified force. The idea basically was that standing alone as African-Americans, Latinos or Asians, for example, did little to break racial barriers, and coming together under the banner of "people of colour" might be more effective. In a way, it acknowledges civil rights leader Martin Luther King's injunction that Black people "cannot walk alone" in the fight for equal rights and social justice. They need allies to move the fight for racial equality beyond the traditional black/white divide. King indeed used the term "citizens of color" in his famous 1963 " I Have a Dream " speech.

But the term's history rankles. Consider this paragraph in the 1807 Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves, which made unlawful, the importation into the U.S. of "... any negro, mulatto, or person of color, with intent to hold, sell, or dispose of such negro, mulatto, or person of color as a slave, or to be held to service or labour."

I appreciate the need for solidarity and togetherness among historically marginalized people. Racial discrimination is not just the burden of Black people, but people of all colours. Standing against racial discrimination and injustice is an imperative for all people. But the painful history of the term makes it difficult to embrace. That history, with echoes of the word "colored" that was painted on segregation signs in the American South from the 1900s into the 1960s - and used to discriminate against Black people, is difficult to swallow. I see "colored" and "people of colour" as two branches of the same tree. That's why I refuse to wear it.

Those who use "people of colour" should understand that it's not a universal term of endearment. It's an American term that should not be used blithely in Canada. Tread carefully.
Next: The colour divide. Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator.

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Adam: Why the term 'people of colour' is offensive to so many

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Living in the shadow of the United States, it is inevitable that Canadians will absorb and be influenced by aspects of American culture - good and bad. But one that, regrettably, Canadian media are adopting with increasing regularity is the American term "people of colour" to describe all those who are not white.

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Race-based data for all institutions in Canada

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Race-based data for all institutions in Canada

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the federal government must start collecting race-based data in order to make policy changes that will start to turn the tide on what the United Nations has called the "deplorable" treatment of African Canadians.

Protests against the police-killing of George Floyd in the U.S. spilled into Canada last weekend and Toronto was seized by the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who fell from a 24th-floor Toronto apartment while police were in the home. Her death is under investigation by the province's police watchdog.

On Monday, Canada's political leaders tried to address the growing outrage. Mr. Singh proposed firm steps to address anti-black racism in Canada, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised his government would do more but didn't outline specific steps or a timeline to act. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer proposed no new policies but said all levels of government have "much more to do."

In contrast to protests south of the border, violence at Canadian demonstrations was limited to Montreal, where 11 people were arrested after dozens of businesses were damaged at the tail end of the formal march, which took place without incident.

Mr. Trudeau promised to "keep taking meaningful action to fight racism and discrimination in every form." That progress in Canada has been too slow though, according to a 2017 United Nations Human Rights Council report on anti-black racism.

Across Canada, the report found disproportionately high unemployment rates for African Canadians, leading to more precarious and low-paid work, and worse health outcomes, where people in black communities are less likely to access health care services and more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions. In Nova Scotia, it found "deplorable" socioeconomic conditions and no change in educational inequities, 30 years after schools were integrated.

While federal leaders acknowledged the persistence of racism and systemic discrimination in Canada, Quebec Premier François Legault denied that it stems from structural problems.

"All humans are equal, are all the same, regardless of the colour of their skin," Mr. Legault said. The UN report found African Canadians in Montreal have the highest poverty rates among visible minorities in the city.

The UN report recommended a mandatory nationwide policy on the collection of data disaggregated by race, colour, ethnic background, national origin and other identities "to determine if and where racial disparities exist for African Canadians so as to address them accordingly."

That hasn't yet happened and without it Canada is missing critical information that countries like the United States have readily available, said Arjumand Siddiqi, Canada Research Chair in population health equity. For example, Canada does not have information about how employment statistics break down along racial lines, making it difficult to know if some groups are being excluded from the suite of financial aid the Liberals have rolled out in the wake of the economic shutdown sparked by COVID-19.

While race-based data is collected in the census every five years, there is no routine collection of data, and on top of that, the data that is collected is not readily available, said Prof. Siddiqi, who is also an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

The difference between the data available in the U.S. and Canada is "night and day," she said. Without that data, evidence-based policy changes are stymied and it's harder to hold governments to account.

The failure to collect the valuable data comes even as the impact of having the information is clear, Mr. Singh said, noting that changes to police carding were only made when numbers laid bare that the practice disproportionately targeted black and Indigenous people.

He said the data collection would help spur systemic changes in policing, the justice system and to inequities in health care, education, housing and employment, which "perpetuates the undervaluing of black life, of racialized people's lives."

The Liberals funded a new Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics within Statistics Canada in 2018. A spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains did not explain why a separate centre was created rather than integrating it with all of the work done by the federal agency.

Evidence from other countries and small pockets of information in Canada show that poorer people and people of colour are being hit harder by the novel coronavirus. But the Prime Minister acknowledged that collecting that information widely in Canada is an uphill battle, given that at the moment the government doesn't even have the age data for a "large portion" of the people diagnosed with COVID-19.

Mr. Singh also said he supported the use of body cameras for police officers to ensure accountability and said police need more training in how to de-escalate incidents.

The UN report released a long list of recommendations to the federal government, which included apologizing for Canada's history of slavery and other historical injustices, as well as considering paying reparations. The federal government on Monday did not say whether it was going to accept either of those recommendations.
With reports from The Canadian Press Know what is happening in the halls of power with the day's top political headlines and commentary as selected by Globe editors (subscribers only). Sign up today.

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NDP calls for race-based data collection to combat racism, spur change

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the federal government must start collecting race-based data in order to make policy changes that will start to turn the tide on what the United Nations has called the "deplorable" treatment of African Canadians. Protests against the police-killing of George Floyd in the U.S.

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- like 4 corners but it suggests finding common ground between different conversations
- suggested by Ebrima

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Can Black Lives Matter & Law Enforcement See Eye To Eye?

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12 Movies to Watch About Racism and Protest History

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12 Movies to Watch About Racism and Protest History

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12 Movies to Watch About Racism and Protest History

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From 'Do the Right Thing' to 'Fruitvale Station', these films have much to teach viewers about about the history of racism, police brutality and resistance.

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Cineplex.com is offering free movies about Black Stories for a limited time. Subscribe and watch.

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In a time when many are turning to movies to become informed and empowered, we want to help. This collection of important films was curated to elevate Black stories, artists and filmmakers and spark discussion. These films are available to view at no cost.

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Cineplex Store | Understanding Black Stories

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In a time when many are turning to movies to become informed and empowered, we want to help. This collection of important films was curated to elevate Black stories, artists and filmmakers and spark discussion. These films are available to view at no cost.