[note: this is an opinion from VICE not us.
THIS IS FROM VICE, NOT US.
Posting does NOT imply Endorsement~cr]
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Nick; Racial and climate change narratives from Vice.
People of Colour Experience Climate Grief More Deeply Than White People
We are not only disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, but we carry a pain that comes from a long history of racial terror.
By Nylah Burton May 15 2020, 1:24am
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In an article for Vox, Cruse, a Wiradjuri, Gomeroi, and Monaroo-Yuin storyteller, told me, “We see and feel the spirit of our animals and our land; they are our ancestor spirits. We don’t own country, country owns us; we come from her to protect her. When country hurts, we hurt. When our animals, our spirit cousins, cry, we cry.”
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“Just like other stressors that people of colour experience, ecological grief is often magnified,” said Dr. Tyffani Dent, a licensed psychologist and author, in an interview.
“People of colour know…society is going to make sure we’re impacted first, and impacted the hardest,” Dent said.
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Research has bolstered the idea that white supremacy has led to the climate crisis. Scientists from University College London found that the mass genocide that accompanied the colonization of the Americas in the 15th century permanently altered Earth’s climate, due to “a huge swathe of abandoned agricultural land” that “pulled down enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to eventually chill the planet.”
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Worldwide, the memory of indescribable racial terror informs the climate grief of our people.
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“There’s a certain loneliness that comes with being a climate person,” Heglar said. “Then there’s an extra layer of loneliness that comes with being a climate person of colour, because you’re just stuck in this perpetual position of trying to save white people from themselves. And it’s so fucking exhausting.”
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I hope the author someday finds a way to feel less lonely.
via Watts Up With That?
May 18, 2020 at 12:35AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 