#1440 The Physical Structures of Structural Racism and the Fight for Environmental Justice (Repost)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 October 2022
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Original Air Date 9/8/2021
Today we take a look at the legacy of red-lining, the building and subsequent destruction of Black communities and the health and environmental impacts of segregation. The concept of “Structural Racism” is often a metaphor, not something physical that you can touch, but that is not the case when it comes to environmental racism.
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SHOW NOTES
We're making a deadly mistake if we don't talk about environmental justice when we discuss racism and Black liberation.
Ch. 2: Redlining & Climate Change: A Deadly Combination - News Beat - Air Date 4-27-21
Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned redlining and housing discrimination in general, three out of four redlined communities rated "hazardous" 80 years ago are struggling economically today.
Guests: Catherine Flowers founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice and Amy Stelly, a designer and board member of the Urban Conservancy.
Ch. 4: Environmental Racism is Real Part 1 - Tamarindo Podcast - Air Date 6-16-21
We talk to Environmental justice lawyer Claire Woods about how black and brown communities face the brunt of many environmental justice issues, the connection to racism, and what we can do to help.
Ch. 5: Biden Promises To Grapple With Environmental Racism - Short Wave - Air Date 2-4-21
NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher talks about the history of environmental racism in the United States, and what Biden's administration can do to avoid the mistakes of the past.
Ch. 6: Environmental Racism is Real Part 2 - Tamarindo Podcast - Air Date 6-16-21
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Summary + reading from The Sum of Us on pollution in segregated cities
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 9: Post-Civil War Reconstruction and the occupation of Afghanistan - Dave from Olympia, WA
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on how structural racism becomes personal racism and comparing Reconstruction with the occupation of Afghanistan
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: An official, rectangular metal sign bolted to a telephone poll displays the image of a cropped city map with a red outlined area. Below, the sign reads "Portland's Historic Redline District." Smaller text below reads "In Portland's past, 'redlining' practices created exclusionary zones for 'Negroes and Orientals' by real estate, banking and insurance companies. Agents could lose their licenses for crossing this color barrier. Now, urban gentrification displaces low-income families, as the remaining affordable housing stock in this area disappears."
Credit: "Redlining" by radcliffe dacanay, Flickr | License | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everyone, you're about to hear one of our excellent episodes handpicked from the archives. |
| 0:05.1 | Why? Because we believe in vacation time, and so do our members. |
| 0:09.2 | After more than 10 years of perpetually verging on burnout, |
| 0:13.9 | members voted to give me a French amount of time off each year. |
| 0:18.0 | So I thank them for that and use this as an opportunity to urge you |
| 0:22.9 | to agitate for better working conditions for yourself and across the board. |
| 0:27.5 | Now enjoy the fruits of our labor. |
| 0:34.2 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast, |
| 0:38.2 | in which we shall take a look at the legacy of redlining, |
| 0:41.6 | the building, and subsequent destruction of black communities, |
| 0:45.2 | and the health and environmental impacts of segregation. |
| 0:48.8 | The concept of structural racism is often a metaphor, not something physical you can actually touch, |
| 0:54.8 | but that is not the case when it comes to environmental racism. |
| 0:58.8 | Clips today are from Black History Year, Newsbeat, |
| 1:03.2 | Short Wave, and the Tamarindo podcast. |
| 1:12.8 | I'm interested in taking a step back actually, because I think this concept |
| 1:18.0 | of environmental justice may be unfamiliar to many. |
| 1:21.4 | Like we hear about criminal justice, we hear about other economic justice, |
| 1:26.0 | but could you just give us a definition of what environmental justice is, |
| 1:32.8 | and what does it tackle in the day-to-day lives of Black people? |
| 1:36.8 | Where what? |
| 1:37.9 | When I was in graduate school, I used to be the laughing stock of other Black students. |
... |
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