Monday, April 13, 1998
Target racism to save environment
IMMIGRATION: Whites project destruction of Earth onto
immigrants
By Scott Kurashige
UCLA Astronomy Professor Ben Zuckerman has drawn a lot attention
for his support of a Sierra Club initiative charging that
immigration is the key threat to the environment in the United
States (See Zuckerman’s L.A. Times March 15 opinion piece, "Cut
Immigration, Save the Environment.") His leadership on this issue
has been crucial to its backers because his title as UCLA professor
and faculty member of the Institute of the Environment lends
credibility to the anti-immigration campaign, which counts among
its ranks militia members, white supremacists, eugenicists and
immigrant bashers, but very few scientists with a Harvard
doctorate.
Zuckerman complains that "the liberal media have published
millions of words about the trials and tribulations of individual
immigrants" without showing how "so very many millions of
immigrants, eager to embrace the highly consumptive American
lifestyle, impact the environment both here and abroad. In an
avalanche, each unique, beautiful snowflake pleads not guilty." The
implication then is that immigrants are "guilty" of starting an
"avalanche" which is destroying the environment. In an era marked
by the passage of Proposition 187, a slew of federal anti-immigrant
legislation and the proposal to ban bilingual education, Zuckerman
actually contends there is not enough discussion of how immigration
hurts America.
But what scientific study draws conclusions after looking at
only one variable in isolation? What about the impact of other
groups upon the environment? Zuckerman has not released any
findings on the impact of non-minorities upon the environment, so I
am going to take up that task here. Until society proves it can
examine its problems without racial prejudice, bias or malice, it
will be necessary to include an analysis of race. If white people
feel uncomfortable reading about the culpability of whites as a
group in environmental degradation, just imagine how immigrants
feel being blamed for unemployment, crime, gang violence,
terrorism, poverty, welfare dependency, "reverse racism," lack of
quality education, destroying the English language, lowering
property values, unclean restaurants, poor driving skills, price
gouging at convenience stores, noise from leaf blowers and
environmental degradation. Anyone who endures a Zuckerman lecture
on immigration problems should insist equal time be given to
recounting problems created by white people.
First, let’s consider the impact that white people had on the
environment during the colonial era of American history. According
to scholars, the estimated indigenous population of the Americas
prior to the arrival of Columbus was as high as 145,000,000 people.
In what is now Mexico, sustainable methods of production were
developed to feed populations which were far denser than Europe at
the time. But "contact" with Europeans led to the death of 95
percent or more of all native peoples in the Americas. This
genocidal change led to the hegemony of European groups over the
Americas, and in particular, the rise of whites as the dominant
group in the United States.
These changes to the social environment carried devastating
consequences for the natural environment. While some exceptional
indigenous societies engaged in behavior we would call "wealth
accumulation," none of them featured the accumulation of wealth as
the driving force within their culture. Nor did any of these
cultures uphold the accumulation of wealth as an end in itself, as
became the case with the ascendancy of the white race in
America.
The drive for wealth led to the introduction of strip mining,
oil drilling, and other methods of extraction which have
permanently scarred the land. It led to an intense fur trade, and
hunting and fishing, which decimated animal populations. Over the
years, we’ve also witnessed: logging to the point that the world’s
scarce remaining acres of rain forest are now threatened; dams that
disrupted reproduction cycles of salmon; nuclear testing which has
poisoned the land with radiation for millions of years; pollution
that has blown a hole in the ozone layer; and open space bulldozed
over to make way for ugly, suburban-tract housing. The list of
crimes against the environment can go on and on.
Who has initiated these endeavors, and who has profited from
them? Statistical studies show that the overwhelming majority of
the people were white. Some of these results may be viewed as the
unintentional outcome of white people. Yet, there are too many
cases where hatred toward non-whites drove whites to intentionally
destroy the environment. The most obvious case is the attempt by
white settlers in the Plains to kill off buffalo to undermine
American-Indian culture.
Furthermore, a blind spot to racism has undermined the cause of
many efforts by white people to save the environment. Today, the
most polluted neighborhoods in America are places where people of
color, immigrants, and working-class people live. One reason for
this is that too often white people seek to ban toxic producers
like incinerators, hazardous waste facilities, and heavy industry
from their neighborhoods but don’t sweat it when these same
polluters make home in communities of color. Moreover, communities
of color would have more ammunition to fight pollution if America’s
political system wasn’t dominated by a white elite which has
marginalized the minority.
If you were to make a tally, it would become very clear who the
real criminals are. Who consumes the most resources? Who creates
the most waste? Who has committed the most acts of destruction? On
every count, white people are far more guilty than non-white
immigrants. Blaming immigration for environmental degradation is
nothing more than nativist scapegoating. It fuels a climate of
racism and xenophobia which are all too prevalent in society. If
Zuckerman is sincere in his environmentalism, he should turn his
attention to combatting the rich and powerful, who are responsible
for policies which have led us to the brink of annihilation.
What we as a society really need is to stop pointing fingers at
immigrants and treating them like they are a problem. Isolating
individual white people for blame won’t cure our problems either.
Many of the transnational corporations with the most destructive
practices have their headquarters in Asia. Conversely, many white
Americans are contributing to the fight for environmental justice.
It is the system of racism, driven by the pursuit of wealth and
ruled by the exploitation of people and nature, that must be
confronted and abolished. It is the concept of white supremacy that
has been the driving force behind genocide, slavery, Manifest
Destiny, imperialism and patterns of behavior which have devastated
the social and natural environment of the Americas.