In An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People, the authors examine the case of the Dakota Access Pipeline to uncover how environmental racism drove policy that would ultimately destroy and occupy land rightfully owned by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The Dakota Access pipeline drew national attention in 2016, bringing issues of environmental racism to the forefront. Six years later, in a June 17th, 2022 Scientific American article entitled “Racism Drives Environmental Inequality—But Most Americans Don’t Realize,” author Brittney J. Miller found that, despite significant research over the years demonstrating that people of color are disproportionately affected by high levels of pollution, many modern Americans do not think that Black people are “any more likely to be affected by pollution than white people.”

Read the Scientific American article cited above. What parallels exist between Indigenous communities and Black communities with regard to environmental racism? How does environmental racism detract from Indigenous People’s Right to Land and Sovereignty?

Teaching Suggestion: Students might make the connection that the racism that affects Black communities is part of the same Colonialist Legacy that led to the destruction of Indigenous people’s communities. You may want to bring up other examples of environmental racism, several of which can be found in the Insider article

Don't Miss Out!

Access Teaching Guide Now