The #HistoryWeek2020 learning tool can help you better understand environmental #racism, a term used to describe policies, practices or enforcement that negatively affect communities – primarily #BIPOC ones – based on location and circumstance. This thread features four examples.

The City of Halifax placed many undesirable services in Africville, an African-Canadian village near the city, especially in the late 19th century, including: a fertilizer plant, slaughterhouses, human waste pits and the Infectious Diseases Hospital. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/africville

As early as 1929, Hogan’s Alley was subject to a long debate regarding its status as a slum. About that time, a shift in city bylaws began to discourage the area’s residential development. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hogans-alley

From 1962 to 1970, around 9,000 kg of untreated mercury was dumped into the river system upstream from Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations. A 2016 report found that more than 90% of their residents have symptoms of mercury poisoning. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/grassy-narrows

In 1971, Hydro-Québec and the Qc government initiated the James Bay Project, a large hydroelectric-power development on James Bay. It profoundly disrupted the environment and the Indigenous communities living in the region; the effects are still felt today. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/james-bay-project

“...pollution not only causes cancer, it causes low self esteem. If you lived close to the dump you weren’t accepted. Not just because you were Black, but because you lived there.” — Louise Delisle on the despair caused by #EnvironmentalRacism (2017). https://nsadvocate.org/2017/04/21/louise-delisle-on-the-despair-caused-by-environmental-racism-in-the-town-of-shelburne/

Download our learning tool on the history of Canada's environment and climate to learn more: https://fb.historicacanada.ca/education/english/canada-history-week-2020-tool/