how is whiteness normalized in some of my classes? the unquestioned use of “we” plays a big role. an unspecified “we” is often procalimed in the conversations about the environmental perils with which all members of the planet are faced, and who and what to blame for them. i have always felt angered by this discourse and it is obvious to me that i feel so because this is a creative rendition of the colonial projects of our past and present: the negating of the African to create and reinforce the european perspective… which then becomes the unchallenged given aka hegemony. daily I hear whatever variation of: “we have gotten ourselves into this mess because of our laziness and consumptive behaviors. we need to change the way we are living to save the earth.” although these comments seem innocent and even inspirational to some of my peers (and professors?), they are far from it. putting the european capitalist people and system at center is an erasure of any and all ways of living that are not european. many life-ways have existed and many continue to, are being born, are being [re]claimed! not all people are living in earth-damaging ways!! it is important to specify who is “we”, because the hegemonic we is just not the universal given (i hate this neoliberal idea), it is racist, classist, sexist, euro-centric, etc to assume so. not only are the Black and Brown people who are living in their own ancestrally-informed ways ignored, they are then categroized by whiteness through the savior/saved dichotomy. who are the so-called primitive people who need saving along with the planet? and who will do the saving? hmm. the perils of the white man’s burden mentality is old news to many of us, yet so-called radical (white) environmentalists fail to analyze this form of thinking as such. the european colonialist worldview is pervasive and normalized. and that i can’t have a decent critically analytical conversation about it in my classes makes me ANGRY. and i remember audre lorde, and breathe.

the white capitalist industrial system is the dominant model for ‘development’. and its group members manage to further this exploitative agenda with their ‘green revolution’. can someone in my class please note that not all people in ‘developed’ nations such as the united states of amerikkka are partaking in the super exploitation of humans and non-human nature? are there groups that live mainly using public transportation, buying little, making and creating a lot, reusing almost all, living in dense close-knit communities and sharing resources? are they celebrated for it? why/who are they? it is necessary to specify which groups are causing the most damage and being honest would not allow for the continued denial that it is overwhelmingly the monied white groups “that have gotten us into this mess”. there would also be an acknowledgement that the burden of this mess is disproportionately carried by people of color, people living in poverty, and particularly women of these communities. yes i will say it is true that eurocentric capitalist folk need to change their ways of living and stop imposing them on people of color, in order to stop destroying the earth.