by Milo Guthrie
This piece was originally published in Home! A Bioregional Reader, edited by Van Andruss, Christopher Plant, Judith Plant, and Eleanor Wright, New Society Publishers, copyright 1990.
Judith Plant defined ecofeminism as the coming together of ecology and feminism, and recognizing the interdependence of all life. This can be summed up as ecology being the recognition that “what we do to the web of life we do to ourselves” and feminism being the recognition that “what we do to ourselves we do to the web.” In relation to the women’s movement, ecofeminism is not just about rights, but about responsibilities as well. It is the understanding that not just women but men as well should take on the responsibility of caring for and nurturing the earth. She asked, “How can we create ecologically sustainable communities that will thrive if we can’t see that that tree is me?” Ecofeminism will help us to do that.
Dennis Jennings commented on a dangerous aspect of the bioregional movement, which is the failure to recognize that we are settlers, and lack a sense of history when we resettle the land…. It is very dangerous not to recognize your own “settler mentality” and deal with it. Dennis said that it is important to ask yourself, in relation to the land you inhabit, “Where are you from? How long have you been there?” and “How many generations have you buried your dead there?” It is critically important to “know the people who know the names of the places on the land.”
Jacinta McKoy, in her introductory remarks, offered questions about how to create a new reality in regard to sexism and racism, asking the audience to embrace questions of power, race, and gender in their lives, and to look at the uses of power and privilege over people of color. She named racism and sexism as two “social diseases” which damage our lives and our human relations, commenting that “we won’t go forward without dealing with this vicious cycle of domination and oppression.” It is important to connect with people of color, who are not all the same; more action is needed. We must understand how the “isms” affect our lives, and we need to create and acknowledge diversity of peoples and cultures.
Gloria Yamato used a familiar metaphor in describing racism. Commenting on the need to “eliminate racism,” she compared it to constipation. She explained that internalized racism is the “flip side” of racism, being the self-hatred felt by people of color for themselves and their people. She made the subject easy to understand by the use of phrases such as “mechanics of racism;” meaning take it apart, put it back together, leave out the funky pieces, and get another model of human relationships across racial lines. She also said racism “comes in several flavors,” and is like a “booger on your face.” If someone says you have a booger on your face, you thank them and wipe it off. Saying you don’t have a booger on your face, or saying it is a mole and not a booger are forms of denial, analogous to denying that we are racists.
Gloria further explained that some of the various “flavors” of racism include overt racism, covert racism (which makes the subjects feel like they are nuts), unintentional racism, and self-righteous indignant racism. This latter form causes people to deny that they need to organize their own communities.
Margo Adair further commented that since nature is a basically harmonious force, it takes a great deal of energy to maintain an imbalance, such as racism. However, with the added power of mystification, it takes less overt force to keep it in place. In order to change this situation, we need to create relations of mutual respect rather than duplicate the oppressive relationships. It is hard for white people to examine their lives or behavior because “nobody wants to know how their privilege is paid for” and it is “taboo to discuss racism or sexism.”
Report from the North American Bioregional Congress’ workshop on “Sexism, Racism and the Land,” first published in the Voice of the Turtle, Vol.3, Number 5, reprinted in NABC III Proceedings.
