How Are Racism and Climate Change Connected?

Vickie Carson, an African American school bus driver, bought a single level home in Houston Gardens about 12 years ago.  The place had a nice mix of feeling like being in the country, while still in the city.  The house was a few hundred feet from Hall’s Bayou, a peaceful, slow moving stream.  She lived there with three generations of her family, her disabled sister, and four children – 10 family members in all.

When Hurricane Harvey hit in August 2017, it was only a few hours before the bayou overflowed its banks and soon the water started to rise in Vickie Carson’s house, flooding and ruining everything.  They fled and a friend took them in temporarily – all jammed into a three bedroom house.  She went to the Convention Center to get her FEMA application expedited, but for days, nothing happened.  Finally they got FEMA vouchers to stay in what turned out to be a water damaged motel for a couple of months.

Each day she went back to her home, limping on her arthritic knee, picking through the debris trying to find anything she could salvage.  There wasn’t much.  Months later she was back in her home, with the walls stripped down to the studs, sleeping on the floor.  Unable to afford to rebuild and unable to find a contractor that would do the job in small pieces, and still hoping for some sort of government aid.

Meanwhile, the wealthier folks who were flooded out, like Rick Christie, who is white, also had to leave their houses.  However, Mr. Christie could pay up front to have work begin immediately and quickly started rebuilding his home.  He was back in his newly rebuilt home while Vickie Carson was still sleeping in the water-damaged shell of her house.  Harvey may have been the storm that didn’t discriminate, but the aftermath of the storm deepened the racial and economic divide in an already deeply divided city.

All Around the World
This story has already been repeated for literally millions of people around the world.  People of color are frequently more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including catastrophic storms, agricultural disruptions and hunger, the spread of diseases, and more.  While often this is the result of poverty, their poverty has generally been caused or exacerbated by the effects of racism, colonization, and/or genocide.  This same poverty, as well as additional racism impeding recovery assistance, also leaves them less able to recover after being hit by climate change-driven disasters. This was true for Vickie Carson, for the people of Puerto Rico hit by Hurricane Maria, for Filipinos hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan, for those in Mozambique suffering from cyclone Idai, and so many more.

People of color, including indigenous people, who in most cases have done the least to cause climate change, are disproportionally suffering its effects.

Can Racism Wait?
Meanwhile, in the United States, although many white people in the climate movement care about racism, many think tackling racism fully will have to wait until we’ve stopped the urgent crisis of climate change.  While this feeling may be understandable, I think it is a deeply flawed position.  In my view, we will fail in our efforts to stop climate change unless we address climate change and racism together.

For one thing, in order to solve the problem of climate change, we are going to have to get the United States onboard.  If the country with the largest economy in the world and an immense carbon footprint doesn’t take dramatic action to reverse climate change, the world is probably doomed to unimaginable catastrophic consequences.  What is the biggest obstacle to this country taking decisive action on climate change?  Politicians who deny climate change, favor private profits over the common good, and oppose any of the government action and regulation that is needed to reverse climate change, or to redress racism.

Elections Matter
How do these (mostly Republican) politicians get elected?  Two racist strategies are key: 1) taking voting rights away from people of color and 2) manipulating the racial fears and resentments of white voters.  Every Republican elected President since the 1960’s has used these strategies and most would not have been elected without them.  These strategies have also helped elect countless Republican Congressional and state-level candidates.  These strategies are racist in and of themselves, and they work because racism is still deeply ingrained in the minds of so many.   We must make significant progress on undoing racism in order to get governments at all levels to do what needs to be done to reverse climate change, as well as to achieve racial justice.

This is not to portray Democratic office-holders as climate or racial justice heroes.   Most have not been.  They too have been beholden to the wealthy and limited by racism – their own or that of the electorate.  Regardless of party, we need political leaders who will put the needs of people ahead of the profits of the few, and will use the government to act for the common good.

Movement Building and Being in This Together
The climate movement in the United States also suffers the effects of racism.  Instead of being a massive, inclusive movement led by the people most affected by climate change, the movement is significantly disconnected along lines of race and class.  Fortunately more and more activists and groups are working to build coalitions, follow the lead of marginalized communities, and do the work needed to build a unified movement that benefits from diverse experiences and perspectives.

Success in stopping climate change may depend on people everywhere developing a real sense of being in this together with people everywhere.  Emissions anywhere hurt the climate everywhere.  Carbon sequestration anywhere helps the climate everywhere.  It will be a challenge for people in the United States to see themselves as part of an international community of humans, together seeking to create a livable environment for all of us.  Working to eliminate racism will be key to creating this needed new consciousness.

Progress on undoing racism will make accelerated progress on climate possible, and progress on climate will spare countless people of color the horrible effects of climate change.

While it can seem overwhelming that we have to take on both race and climate in order to be successful, this is an opportunity to build a more inclusive, powerful people’s movement than we have ever seen.  This can bring us together with each other and with people all over the world who are already taking action to achieve social justice and climate justice as one unified struggle.