Green movement's primary color is white
Muncie Star Press Sep. 23, 2008
MUNCIE -- When Jerome Ringo gave the keynote address during last Saturday's Living Lightly Fair, he looked out at an all-too-familiar group: a predominantly white audience.
As the only black member of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, an organization that consists of 19,000 strong, Ringo has long been aware of the Green Movement's largely white, middle and upper middle class support base.
But he is ready to see that change.
"I believe that the success of the conservation movement, the success of the Green movement, will not be experienced unless the movement looks like America," Ringo said Saturday. "We've got to get everybody involved (and) when it comes to organized conservation, (people of color) are not involved."
Local environmentalists reflect Ringo's assessments, with some admitting to having only white members on their board and membership rolls to others guessing that, at the most, 10 percent of their total support is of color.
But from the Red Tail Conservancy to The Smart Living Project environmental groups are doing what they can to reach out to more people of color in Muncie and beyond, spreading the message of inclusion across race, ethnic and class lines.
From partnering with Motivate Our Minds for field trips to the John Craddock Nature Preserve to working with local black churches to recruit new members, the organizations want to let people of color know that environmental concerns are not just a middle-class, white issue.
"Part of why The Smart Living Project was founded was to bring the sustainability message to people who don't normally get it," said Lina Gordy of Smart Living. "We wanted to bring that message about resource-efficient living to populations that normally don't have access to it."
On a national level, evidence shows that people of color, especially African-Americans and Hispanics, support environmental polices on a personal level. The Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have the strongest support for Green policies. And the Green Party has selected an African-American woman and a Latina as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
But on the grassroots level, these populations have not been a part of the Green movement, for reasons unknown to organizers across Indiana and the nation.
As organizers meet at various conferences across the country, some have attended sessions on how to diversify their local Green movements and where to reach more people of color. But, similar to Ringo, they agree that more diversity is needed and needed now.
"I'm not sure why it evolved that way ... I don't think (white people) appreciate nature any more than people of color," said Barry Banks of the Red Tail Conservancy. "It certainly is time, in my opinion, to (include) the entire community."
Contact news reporter Ivy Farguheson at 213-5829.
