ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION (ENVIRONMENTAL J.E.D.I) AND POSSIBILITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR RESTORATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL J.E.D.I IN OAKLAND, CA
C.N.E. Corbin
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Division of Society & Environment
September 26, 2019
REDLINING & GREENLINING
Redlining
“The Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) created color-coded maps of every metropolitan area in the nation, with the safest neighborhoods colored in green and the riskiest colored in red. A neighborhood earned a red color if African Americans lived in it, even if it was a solid middle-class neighborhood of single-family homes.”
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (EJ) & ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM
The unfair and uneven distribution of environmental harms.
Zip code is still the most potent predictor of an individual’s health and well-being.
“Without a doubt, racism influences the likely hood of exposure to environmental and health risks and the accessibility to health care. Racism provides whites of all class levels with an ‘edge’ in gaining access to a healthy physical environment. This has been documented again and again.” (Bullard, 1999)
THE OTHER SIDE OF �ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
“Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” (EPA)
The equitable distribution of environmental goods and the eradication of environmental harms.
The necessary pivot from the fight against to the the fight for.
GREENLINING PART 1
“Large areas of land with a mix of uses that in some combination of pubic and private ownership but are managed for such explicitly public purposes as recreation, ecological preservation and maintenance of scenic vistas. Although the USA has no formally designated greenline parks, there are many parks that meet the criteria commonly associated with the greenline concept.”
GREENLINING PART 2
“The business practice of investing energy, products and services in low-income, minority and disabled communities to increase profits and expand the economic pie.”
“Greenlining: attracting financing from "mainstream" communities to the inner city.”
THE DARK CITY & THE GREEN CITY
CHICAGO MILLENNIUM PARK (2004)
NEW YORK HIGH LINE PARK (2009)
BIRMINGHAM RAILROAD PARK (2010)
�OAKLAND LAKE MERRITT AMPHITHEATER (2013)�
LAKE MERRITT
MOSSWOOD PARK
THE DARK GREEN CITY
CITY OF OAKLAND �MUNICIPAL PARK SYSTEM
-The Trust for Public Lands 2019 Park Score Rating-
CITY OF OAKLAND �MUNICIPAL PARK SYSTEM
-The Trust for Public Lands 2019 Park Score Rating-
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE�THE FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES�
Repair: Crime causes harm and justice requires repairing that harm
Encounter: The best way to determine how to do that is to have the parties decide together
Transformation: This can cause fundamental changes in people, relationships and communities.
RESTORATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL J.E.D.1.�
Environmental Justice
Equity
Diversity
Inclusion
POSSIBILITIES & CHALLENGES FOR RESTORATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL J.E.D.1.
LAKE MERRITT NOVEMBER 2018
Yoda: Always with you what cannot be done.
You know nothing of what I say.
You must unlearn what you have learned.
Luke: I’ll Try
Yoda: No! Try Not. Do or do not. There is no try.
THANK YOU