One of our jobs as board members of the John Muir Association is to think about smart, dynamic others in the community we can enlist to pull the dogsled, take us faster to more places and make the load lighter. I have met plenty that fit that description in my beaver wanders, so I’ve been going through the list in my head. When I think about what this highly qualified, and environmentally inspirational board needs I can see a real need to diversify their cultural resources. Like too many boards, it has a hue deficit, and there is not enough color to fill a cream puff, let alone to encourage a heterogeneic, multi-ethnic interest in the Muir site and its role in the larger environment for years to come.
So I started to go through the mental list of beaver supporters that represented a broader ethnic background, and I was alarmed to find it was shorter than I expected. I talked about this with others and was told that this was similar in Audubon and other environmental groups. WALC (Wilderness Arts Literacy Collaborative) is well aware of these challenges, but why do they exist? When we go into the schools to teach beavers and talk about wetlands, we have universal attention and excited commitment from the suburbs to the inner cities. These events have taught me how to say “beaver” in Spanish, Vietnamese, German and Sign language. African American children are every bit as interested in beavers as their whiter counterparts. So what changes? What do we do wrong as a culture that turns off this dynamic interest in the natural world, or makes certain groups feel unwelcome in the larger environmental community?
Photos from: Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative
Life is complex, and the multiple meanings of race are hugely complex. I was cautioned to be “careful” when I discussed writing this post, but I am certain it must be better to start the dialogue, (however awkwardly or gracelessly), than to observe it unspoken. I want to know what we do wrong in our environmental work to discourage the participation of every one. I want to know how everyone can be assured that they bring unique value to the table and that the earth is a better place when you care for it with a group of friends. Certainly the environment touches every life powerfully, and sometimes it’s minorities that are exposed to our most significant environmental damage. A cleaner watershed benefits everyone, and is probably supported by most. How can we be more inclusive in our reaching out to the community?
If you have thoughts, let me know. I’m opening this post for comments or you can email them privately.
