Students hear a lot about issues pertaining to the environment and race in a university setting. But, as the Coalition Against Environmental Racism has learned, when the two issues are combined it can become a bit baffling.
“We get lots of confused looks when we have our sweatshirts on,” said a laughing Emily Chi, CAER co-director and University senior.
“Environmental racism?” students ask CAER members. “How can you be racist against trees?”
Amid the many environmental groups and causes on campus that discuss sustainability and conservation, CAER pairs traditional environmentalism with social activism.
The group’s goal is to educate the campus community about how certain populations have to bear the burdens of environmental hazards.

On Tuesday evening CAER welcomes “the father of the Environmental Justice Movement” to the University for a guest lecture. Robert Bullard, Ware Distinguished Professor of Sociology and director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, will speak about “Growing Smarter to Achieve Healthy and Livable Conditions.”
Among the topics Bullard addresses in his books are sustainable development, environmental racism, climate justice, urban land use, industrial facility siting, community reinvestment, housing, transportation, emergency response, smart growth and regional equity.
Group members are thrilled to host a lecturer they often reference during their weekly meetings, in quarterly newsletters and while coalition-building. Bullard’s presentation prefaces the group’s 14th annual Grassroots Environmental Justice Conference on April 25-26.
According to CAER’s mission statement, environmental racism acknowledges that poor people and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by pollution, waste disposal, hazardous sites, resource depletion and natural disasters. Additionally, CAER believes communities of color are targeted by racist public policies and private interests. CAER wants to mobilize locally, regionally and globally with other groups.
Chi used a metaphor of a banana to explain the ways in which CAER looks at environmental racism. The fruit represents the environment’s positive aspects, such as greenery, biodiversity and beauty. The peel, however, represents its negative aspects, including include pollution, toxic waste and landfills.
“If you think about what’s distributed throughout the population, not everyone gets to experience both,” Chi said. “Usually more wealthy people get access to green space and can afford to take weeks off to backpack in the back country. Other people who may live in an urban setting have kids suffering from lead poisoning at rates that are dramatically higher than other communities. Yet, they don’t get to experience that green space.”
CAER members argue that to experience the benefits of the fruit, everyone must bear the peel. But it’s not just about an equal distribution of costs and benefits.
“It’s becoming more sustainable, as well,” said Adrien Wilkie, CAER co-director and University junior. “The less (negative aspects of the environment) we have, the less we have to worry about distributing them.”
Chi, Wilkie and CAER Co-Director Ashley Pheil, a University senior, said some students hold the stereotype that “environmentalists are sometimes known for caring more about trees than people.”
“We want to show that that’s not necessarily the case,” Chi said. “Traditional environmentalism has excluded a lot of people who definitely take part in our fight for sustainability.”
Chi, Pheil and Wilkie, all of whom are environmental science majors, encourage students from any academic background to learn about their cause.
Chi, who will pursue graduate studies in environmental justice at the University of Michigan this fall, expressed particular interest in domestic issues. She referenced a United Church of Christ Commission on Racial Justice study conducted in 1987, called “Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States.”
In 1982, authorities proposed a landfill that would pour toxic chemicals into the soil of an African American community in North Carolina, according to the CAER newsletter. This study helped to define environmental racism.
In her winter newsletter article, Pheil detailed Oregon’s environmental justice issues, including Native Americans’ water quality and access. Issues such as this garnered recognition during the early 1990s when former governor Barbara Roberts developed the Oregon Environmental Equity Citizen Advisory Committee.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a law in January 2008 to permanently create an Environmental Justice Task Force, which has since advised the governor and state natural resource agencies.
“Even if people don’t realize it, (environmental racism) is around us right here,” Pheil said.
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