Racism and Sustainability

In Atypical Ep 1, you can hear our full racial justice statement.

Episode 54 on Racism and the Modern Environmental Movement is the first of what we intend to be a number of episodes specifically focused on the issue of race within the context of sustainability. For all our episodes, we will consider and include the connection to racial justice.

Below is the running list of resources for our listeners on racism and environmental justice generally.

 
 
 

Learn more about social sustainability here!

Below is our running list of resources on racial justice. We plan to keep adding resources. We also want to add resources from our listeners. Please email us at hosts@sustainabilitydefined.com with any resources that we missed, and you think we should add.

We want to hear how our community is learning about and acting on the fight for racial justice. Please leave a voicemail for us at 202-670-7357. We will include snippets from our listeners in future episodes so that we can learn from each other.

Racial Justice Resources

general lists of resources

environmental racism

environmental justice

black lives matter: public voices

black leaders in sustainability

organizations working on this issue

general/timely

Sustainability Defined’s Statement on Racial Justice


The killing of George Floyd and the protests across the United States have shined a light on a system that continues to explicitly and implicitly disadvantage people of color. The world is demanding change. Jay and I have been doing a lot of thinking since the onset of these events. We’ve been thinking about how we grew up, who we associate with and listen to, how we’ve run this podcast over the last four years, and, crucially, how we’ve benefited from this system. The reality is that we’re part of the problem, because while we may not consciously take actions against people of color, we also have not been conscious of the racist system we are operating in, nor have we taken action against it. Exhibit A of that is that if you look back at our 51 episodes, not one has been with a black person. Frankly, our lack of self-awareness and anti-racism is embarrassing.

So how did we get to this point? We think, as is likely with many white people, we simply didn’t think about the issues of race that much. The people we associate with, the people we see on TV, the people running our government are mostly all white. And the prevailing, often unspoken thinking was, as long as we don’t act like or amplify the voices of white supremacists who say black people are inferior, then we’re good. But we’re not good. We need to be aware of and actively fight against the segregation in our cities that leads to people like us growing up with few people of color in our schools, fight against popular entertainment that perpetuates racial stereotypes, and fight against the institutions that do not take active steps to have their leadership reflect the rich tapestry of our nation.

It’s increasingly obvious that social justice and environmental justice are inextricably linked. Jay and I recently read an article in The Washington Post by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson entitled “I’m a Black Climate Expert. Racism Derails Our Efforts To Save The Planet.” She explains that racism, injustice, and police brutality are also pernicious because of the brain power and creative hours that they steal from black people. She wanted to be writing her policy memo to members of Congress on accelerating offshore wind energy development in U.S. waters, the introduction to her book on climate solutions, and other sustainability projects… but instead she feels compelled to write this article. She says, “I think of one black friend of mine who wanted to be an astronomer, but gave up that dream because organizing for social justice was more pressing. Consider the discoveries not made, the books not written, the ecosystems not protected, the art not created, the gardens not tended.” She makes a good point. Jay and I have not had our brain power taken up too much with the issues of race. It’s probably part of how we were able to start this podcast and also how we would say “we really need to have a black person on the show,” but then have our minds wander to other efforts.

So what are we going to do about it? Most immediately, a couple of things. One is that on our website we have put a bunch of articles on environmental racism, the intersection of climate change and racism, environmental justice, and other areas where sustainability and racism intersect. We are reading these articles in preparation for an October episode that will focus on racism and sustainability. During that episode, we will discuss several organizations working on this issue and any advertising dollars that we receive for that October episode will be distributed among those organizations. We are also going to be more thoughtful about who we bring on to the show for interviews. We want engaging, informed guests, but also ones that reflect diverse perspectives, especially those that do not typically have the opportunity to come on a show like this. Beyond interviewee selection, we also need to be mindful of the outlines we create for the interviews themselves. We need to recognize that the conversations we outline are the products of two white men with similar backgrounds and ensure that we don’t miss important elements that may not occur to us immediately.

The same goes for our intro notes. Sometimes this may involve Jay and I taking the time to reflect on if we’re missing anything or seeing if there are any articles we can read with different perspectives to inform our substance. Other times it may involve asking someone from a different background to read over our planned content or to give us their opinion on a topic. Up to this point, Sustainability Defined has been a labor of love for two white, privileged men who didn’t think nearly enough about ensuring diversity in the content or the interviewees. We promise to be better in our approach to try to offset the inherent deficiencies that come with two hosts of a similar background.

How can you help? Tell us when we have failed to live up to these ideals. We recently had a listener email us to say I loved your career episode, but what if the person listening is from a disadvantaged background and can’t do the kind of in-person networking you mention? And what if the person is a minority; what should they be aware of as they go about trying to find a career in sustainability? Those questions hadn’t crossed our minds. We admittedly gave our best advice from our personal experience, which is one of many resources, and one of being in the majority, both in U.S. society and this profession. We’ve gone back and added resources related to these questions to our website page for the careers in sustainability episode. Feedback like this is incredibly helpful. You can also send us topics we should cover, people we should interview, or articles we can read that will open us and our listeners up to needed, underrepresented perspectives. As always, you can reach us at hosts@sustainabilitydefined.com with these points and any other suggestions or feedback.

Our plan is to keep listening and reading, to be more conscious of how we run our podcast and of the broader system in which we operate, and to act so our podcast, and honestly our lives more generally, reflect and advance a more diverse, aware understanding. We hope you’ll stick with us. We want your help and want to grow along with you. Thanks for listening.

Defining sustainability, one topic (and one bad joke) at a time.