Privilege in the Environmental Movement
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I can, if I wish, purchase fresh local produce at my neighborhood farmer’s market.
I have the means to access organic produce and other environmentally friendly
products at local coops, and other eco-conscious merchants.
I can, if I wish reduce my carbon footprint by driving a hybrid vehicle.
I can choose to live in a neighborhood where many local services are accessible
by walking or bicycling.
Because I have had access to an abundance of consumer products all my life, I am
able to derive both material and moral satisfaction from choosing a simplicity
based lifestyle.
I can imagine that the consequences of environmental destruction constitute a
threat of future calamity rather than an ongoing disaster.
I can choose to live in a neighborhood where I feel close to nature and wildlife.
I can choose to take advantage of incentives provided by my workplace to carpool
or take public transit.
I have access to wild places, where I may deepen my appreciation for the natural
world and its diversity of life forms.
When I cannot get to wild places, I can enjoy parks and other pockets of natural
beauty in my neighborhood.
If I spend time in wild places, I will encounter people who look like me, and I can
count on feeling welcome there.
I am able to appreciate spending time in wild places because outdoor activities
have always been accessible to me and my kin.
Wild places do not provoke cultural memories that associate the woods with the
torture and killing of people who look like me.
I can take a nap in a public park without it being assumed that I might be
homeless.
I can spend time in the deserts of the Southwest without anyone asking to see my
papers.
My sense of intimacy with the land does not entail spending all day in the hot sun
picking strawberries or tending someone else’s lawn.
I can work in my own yard or garden without people assuming I am the gardener.
I can choose to spend time outdoors only when the weather is agreeable.
Because the satisfaction of my basic needs is buffered from the vicissitudes of
nature, such as storms, droughts and bad harvests, I can approach the natural
world in predominantly aesthetic or spiritual terms.
I can enjoy National Parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone, imagining them as
intact wildernesses because their establishment did not involve the forcible
removal of my ancestors.
I can take part in Native American ceremonies and adorn myself with their
cultural artifacts without considering the struggles of actual Native Americans to
preserve their culture in the face of genocide and forced assimilation.
I can take part in Native American ceremonies and adorn myself their cultural
artifacts without considering how Native Americans may feel upon seeing their
culture appropriated (and often profited on) by non-native people.
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I can take part in Native American ceremonies and adorn myself with their
cultural artifacts without considering how Native Americans continue to be
oppressed and impoverished and have their culture imperiled by U.S. policies.
I can adopt an uncompromising attitude about the protection of ecosystems &
wild land habitat without worrying that my own livelihood will be threatened or
that I will be unable to access the products I use in my daily life.
I can choose to blame the whole human species for the ecological crisis, rather
than looking at how my lifestyle depends not only on ecological destruction, but
also on inter-human violence, exploitation, and oppression.
Because my children attend a relatively safe school, are not suffering from asthma
due to poor local air quality, and are not harassed by the police or surrounded by
gang culture, I have the emotional space to feel agony over the imminent loss of
iconic species such as polar bears, African lions, and dolphins.
For the most part, I do not have to concern myself with the impacts of the war on
drugs, the war on terror, the war on illegal immigration, or the right-wing war on
the social safetynet because none of these action directly target me or people who
look like me, leaving me time and energy to focus on ecology.
I have time and energy to think abstractly about ecology because my lifestyle is
supported by a vast and semi-invisible labor force.
I can choose to focus my energies on causes that appeal to me, and I prefer
ecology because nature is beautiful and the wildlife does not express anger toward
me or cause me to feel guilty about the crimes of my ancestors.
I can work on environmental issues and feel good about myself for my good
intentions rather than feeling guilt and shame for stuff that feels beyond my
control.
Unlike much of the human family, I can believe that ecological destruction is
separate from and more urgent than racism, sexism, or other forms of ‘merely’
human oppression
My decisions about which issues to focus on have no direct or immediate impact
on my physical well being.