Why race and class matter to the environmental movement

[Kire]

Who You Calling Dead, White Man?
Activists of color argue "Death of Environmentalism" misses the mark

John Muir was no friend to African Americans and Native Americans, so many of today's environmentalists don't want to stand on his shoulders, argue Michel Gelobter and other activists of color in a feisty response to the ever-dubitable essay "The Death of Environmentalism." The environmental movement drew much from the fight for black power and racial justice, but fails to acknowledge its debt, just as "Death" fails to acknowledge the importance of class and race in the movement, they say. In a separate critique, environmental-justice campaigner Ludovic Blain contends that "Death" exposes the many failings of "elite, white American environmentalism" while ignoring the many successes of women, organizers of color, and local groups not just in the U.S. but around the world.

More: http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/05/27/gelobter-soul/index.html?source=weekly

[cleofus1]

1. to many native americans

the environmental movement walks hand in hand with the animal rights movement...who are the enemy...

lots of common ground until we start hunting wolves...wearing fur...clubbing seals...hunting whale...etc etc...

many view the greenies as opportunists who will try to co opt native americans to use as pawns...and then stab them in the back at the earliest opportunity...

some people have really come to hate them...and it seems when the facade fades away we see hatefullness directed toward the tribes...

[knowbody0]

2. amen