by Cecil Scheib

This blog post is 1 of a 3-part series on the Office of Sustainability’s efforts to be proactively anti-racist, combat white supremacy culture,¹ and embed anti-racist actions into our work. The blog series is intended to document and provide transparency about the work we are doing internally and externally and to share our process, begun in 2018 and accelerated in 2020, that is far from complete.

When you hear that someone is an “environmentalist,” who do you picture? If you’re thinking of a comfy sweater, “Save the Whales” bumper sticker, and Sierra Club membership card, you’re not alone. But you’re also probably not correct. In fact, across the US, people of diverse backgrounds and communities consider themselves to be environmentalists, and calling oneself an environmentalist isn’t linked to education or income.² This self-identification extends to action, with people of color showing greater willingness for political advocacy than those who you might assume are taking part in campaigns to reduce global warming.³

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by Cecil Scheib

This blog post is 2 of a 3-part series on the Office of Sustainability’s efforts to be proactively anti-racist, combat white supremacy culture,¹ and embed anti-racist actions into our work. The blog series is intended to document and provide transparency about the work we are doing internally and externally and to share our process, begun in 2018 and accelerated in 2020, that is far from complete.

Part 1 of this series addresses myths related to anti-racism and sustainability, and how action for justice is an essential part of the work for anyone who cares about the environment. Given this imperative, the NYU Office of Sustainability has been working to improve its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for several years. Over the past year, we have been inspired by national events to do even more, including developing an internal plan for anti-racist communications and activities.²

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by Cecil Scheib

This blog post is 3 of a 3-part series on the Office of Sustainability’s efforts to be proactively anti-racist, combat white supremacy culture,¹ and embed anti-racist actions into our work. The blog series is intended to document and provide transparency about the work we are doing internally and externally and to share our process, begun in 2018 and accelerated in 2020, that is far from complete.

Part 2 of this series describes some of the actions the Office of Sustainability is taking to be actively anti-racist and address white supremacy culture. (For background on why this is inextricably linked with sustainability work, take a look at Part 1.) Perhaps it will be helpful to others if we pull back the curtain a bit on how we’ve been going about discussing this issue, which so many wish to address but that can be very sensitive.

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