As I entered the sea of handmade posters with catchy phrases like, âSave Mother Earth,â âOur planet is hotter than Timothee Chalamet,â and âGo Vegan,â I observed the complete whiteness of the environmental movement. The Climate Strike this past September 20th was my first experience of a mass protest. I felt rejuvenated to know that our generation is taking action and demanding change, but when I looked around on that sweltering hot day in Pershing Square, LA, I realized the majority was white privileged environmentalistsâand I was one of them. I also got involved in my collegeâs climate strike group to prepare for the next one organized by the Sunrise Movement. At that meeting it was only a couple of white girls trying to make this happen. To promote this group and get more involvement from the college students, our type of reaching out was just through our connectionsâwhich are primarily other white girls. Here is the problem with the environmental movement: white people have dominated the dialogue and other minority groups have been left in the dark. With this dynamic, change canât happen if we arenât united. Instead we need leaders from different backgroundsâ who are more affected by the environment than the white privileged. We need all perspectives to make a comprehensive action plan that will instigate change in order to sustain longer on this planet.
Why do you think white people always feel the need to be in the spotlight no matter the stage, particularly on the environmental movement stage? One answer might be from Ursula K. Le Guinâs text, âThe Carrier Bag Theory of Fictionâ which explores the heroic journey prevalent in fictional stories. You can take any fictional story and point out the basic telling of a heroic journey where the protagonist is the weak underdog and they are prompted to go on a journey to save humanity. They have their ups and downs, meet a mystical mentor, pick up some magical objects on the way, defeat the enemy, and come home as a hero. And because itâs the journey that matters, not the destination, the hero realizes the answer he desired was with him all along located in his heart and loyalty to his friends. I pretty much described the Percy Jackson series, and while we all love our boy Percy Jackson, one thing to point out is while he is part fish, he is a white manâjust like all the other heroes in fictional stories.
We rarely see people of color be the hero and thatâs because itâs the white manâs âimperial nature and uncontrollable impulse, to take everything over and run it while making stern decrees and laws to control his uncontrollable impulse to kill itâ (Guin 152). The idea of white being the supreme race is translated in our stories. Stories our children read and conversations people share with each other which perpetuates this culture. This is why it was a natural occurrence that many are oblivious to the fact that the environmental movement is being dominated by white people. White people need âa stage or a pedestal or a pinnacle. You put him in a bag and he looks like a rabbit, like a potatoâ (Guin 153). White leaders on these pedestals in the environmental movement get more funding as research shows 95% of the $60 billion in annual foundation funding for all causes goes to organizations led by white leaders and 70 to 80 percent goes to those led by men (Colorlines).
With those white men leading the dialogue, environmental racism is left out of the conversation and all those people who experience the inequality. The environment impacts everyone, therefore, everyone should be involved in the conversation. A study found that 60% of organizations who are taking action do not have a diversity plan in place (The Hill). This makes me disappointed in these organizations who are fighting for climate justice, because climate justice is not only about climate change, it has become a human rights issue and all these other factors are interconnected and should be addressed.
Our efforts to address these multidimensional issues centered around the inevitable climate change, however, are coming off as very white and exclusive. Humans are the problem, but the white privilegeâs impact is greater than minority groupsâ impact with resources, accessibility, and the ability to overexploit at alarming rates. Mother Earth canât keep up! While we do see redemption by white people by getting involved in the environmental movement, how much can actually be done? Audre Lorde answers that quizzically in âThe Masterâs Tools Will Never Dismantle the Masterâs Houseâ with, âWhat does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowableâ (Lorde 1). As the title of the article articulates, the tools of the white man canât dismantle white supremacy. We have to find solutions outside of that control which can be done by listening to minority groups and gaining other perspectives on these multifaceted problems. We need to create a culture within this environmental movement that includes everyone if we want to see a future at all. We need to change our mindset of âdivide and conquerâ and make it âdefine and empowerâ (Lorde 2). And white people canât do it alone because their egos will get in the way, therefore, we need to facilitate a culture that is open to everyone.
Our culture is not open to everyone right now. Have you ever felt like an outsiderâan alienâin any situation? Minority groups feel that everyday living under a white supremacist society. In âThe Women Men Donât Seeâ by James Tiptree Jr. whose male protagonist, Don, tries to understand the oppression women face and eventually gives up in understanding at the end of the story. Ruth, the woman counterpart, has a choice to leave patriarchal earth behind and join the aliens. Ruth states in a letter to Don, ââwe survived by ones and twos in the chinks of your world-machine⊠Iâm used to aliens.â Sheâd meant every word. Insane. How could a woman choose to live among unknown monsters, to say good-bye to her home, her world?â (Tiptree 29). Well Don, she lived with monsters on earth like you. Earth wasnât a home for her because of the alienation of being a woman in a male-dominated society. I would think this is how minority groups feel, especially in the environmental movement as white activists are making it seem like they are the only ones who care about earth. They alienate minority groups by excluding them, which has underlying themes that people of color donât belong on this earth, therefore, this issue doesnât concern them. It isnât their home, therefore âlet the adults [white people] deal with it.â This hinders resentment and I can understand if this would make you not want to get involved, but we need to put that aside and work together which can only be done if white people get off their pedestal.
Ruth felt like an alien as a woman on earth, and James Baldwin in âStranger in the Villageâ felt like an alien being the only black man in Switzerland. He concludes âwhite supremacy rests simply on the fact that white men are the creators of civilizationâ (Baldwin 47). While this is the perceived truth, it doesnât have to be this way. It will be hard to get through that white wall as white men arrive âto conquer and to convert the natives, whose inferiority in relation to himself is not even to be questioned; whereas I without a thought of conquest, find myself among a people whose culture controls meâ (Baldwin 44). African Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Asians, women, and many more are victims to the colonization of our minds by white society. We can accept this, or we can try to find another way out without using the masterâs tools in order to see change and a sustainable future. However, we have to band together quickly as one, as mother earth canât hold out much longer.
Weâre losing time to be proactive, so my revelation that the environmental movement is white-washed, is timely in checking myself and everyone elseâs intent. Environmental justice is a passion of mine and I had doubts that I shouldnât be involved, but just because I am the majority being a white woman fighting for climate justice, I shouldnât stop because of how I look. I need to be aware of my privilege and constantly check myself and know that there is racism in the environmental movement. I can be the one to unite all and support people of color leaders like Frances Perez-Rodriguez, Lindsay Harper, and many more, and not perpetuate white cultureâand you can too.