Race, Poverty & the , Environment

Race, Poverty & the A journal for social , Environment and environmental justice Volume IV, Number 4Nolume V, Number 1 $5.00 Spring - Summer 1994 Opportunity for Environmental Justice? by Carl Anthony The San Francisco Bay Area is a region hard hit by defense cutbacks. Ten military bases are scheduled for closure in the next few years. These downsizing actions will result in the transfer of 20,553 military personnel out of the region, 17,760 direct civilian job losses, and an estimated 51,000 indirect job losses-a total of almost 90,000 jobs lost in the region. As many as half of these Bringing it All Back Home jobs will have a direct impact on by U. S. Representative communities of color. The Navy estimates that toxic clean up of its Ronald V. Dellums facilities in the Bay Area will cost over In the Summer of 1993, the Naval Hospital among other major and $1 billion. In many places the ground President and Congress accepted the minor military facilities in the Bay Area. water and soil pollution may be seeping federal Base Closure and Realignment Prior decisions had already closed into African American, Latino, and Commission (BRAC) recommendation Hamiliton Air Field and Hunter's Point Asian American neighborhoods adjacent to close Alameda Naval Air Station and Naval Shipyard. to closing military bases. At the same the Alameda Naval Aviation Depot, the The challenges that these closures time, an estimated 10,000 acres of Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Naval presented to the Bay Areacommunity publicly-owned unsubdivided urban Station Treasure Island and the Oakland were immediate and complex. The land, thousand of housing units, other see DELLUMS, page 39 see OPPORTUNITY, page 40 Page 2 Spring - Summer 1994 Race, Poverty & the Environment Editors Notes Race, Poverty & the For low-income, working class, and Whether the community is the City of communities of color, economic Alameda, Oakland or San Francisco, Environment conversion is not just an opportunity, but Vieques, Puerto Rico, Kadena, Okinawa, Guest Editor Martha Matsuoka necessary for the survival of their Subic, the Philippines, or Kaoolawe in Editors communities. With the closure of Hawaii, these communities struggle to deal Carl Anthony Luke Cole military base facilities, the remissioning with the land use and employment legacies Managing Editor of national laboratories, and restructur- left by the defense industry. All are cur- Hannah Creighton ing of defense-related industries -- most rently struggling to redirect now scarce Contributors of which are located in these communi- public dollars to forge a path away from Marc Baldwin l Ronald Dellums ties -- economic conversion is the military colonialism. Lauren Hallinan ~MaryliaKelley necessary redirection of public invest- In this country, the military buildup to Winona LaDuke ment toward the neglected issues of our support the Cold War, coupled with rapid Ann Markusen l Greg Mello Juan Montes l Birgit Neuer communities -- unemployment and suburbanization, has left inner cities in Suzuyo Takazato l Roy Takurni crime, environmental hazards, the lack desolation. Ironically, the catalyst for Bernie Whitebear of decent affordable housing and suburbanization following World War 11, Jo Ann Wilkerson l Joel Yudken disinvestment in transit, commercial and was initiated by earlier federal conversion Intern l Heather Abel industrial activities. See EDITOR'S NOTES, Race. Poverty & the Environment is published four times a year. Articles are 01994 by their authors; please repro- In This Issue... duce WE by every means, and give authors credit for their work. Bringing it All Back Home, Subscriptions are $15/four issues, $30 for institutions, or free for low-income by Congressman Ronald V. Dellums........................................... 1 persons and community groups. Articles, stories, reportbacks, resources Opportunity for Environmental Justice?, by Carl Anthony .....................1 and general information are all accepted with appreciation. Send submissions Taking Back Fort Lawton, by Bernie Whitebear................................... 3 and subscription checks to WE, c/o Earth Island, 300 Broadway, The Indigenous Perspective on Feminism, Wlilitarism and the Suite 28. San Francisco, CA 94133. Environment, by Winona LaDuke...................................................... 7 RPE is a joint project of the California Rural Legal Assistance Challenging U.S. Militarism in Hawaii and Okinawa, Foundation and the by Roy Takumi. ................................................................................ .8 Urban Habitat Program. Trials of Okinawa: A Feminist Perspective, by Suzuyo Takazato........... 10 Editorial Policy Race, Poverty & the Environment is a Los Alamos Lab: Toxic Johannesburg of New lblexico quarterly newsletter dedicated to publishing by Juan Montes.............................................................................. 1 1 material exploring the intersection of race, poverty and the environment. The views Labs Kill, by Marylia Kelley................................................................... 12 reflected in Race, Poverty & the Environment are not necessarily those of the editors, A Vision for Livermore Lab, by Marylia Kelley and Greg Mello............. 13 California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, or Earth Island Institute. Reintigrating Our Communities, by Martha Matsuoka.......................... 14 Mission Statement Fighting for Community Needs Through Restoration Advisory Boards The mission of Race, Poverty & the by Jo Ann Wilkerson.. .18 Environment is to provide an authentic voice for .................................................................... environmental justice. RPE aims to service its readers with news, articles, book reviews, Labor: Call to Action.............................................................................. 21 theory, resources and notices that examine and provide evidence of the relationship among race, Conversion Up Close: Labor's Agenda for Change poverty, and the environment. Further, we must by Marc Baldwin.............................................................................. 22 continue to build the bridges that have been tentatively constructed in the past few years Dismantling the Cold War Economy, between mainstream environmentalists and by Ann Markusen and Joel Yudken ............................................... 24 grassroots environmentalists, in a way which preserves the autonomy of community groups. Expanding the Rights of the Poor, by Lauren Hallinan ........................ 31 RPE presents the voices and experiences of a sector of society in a manner that is accessible to The Wall Comes Down: Konversion in Germany, by Birgit Neuer....... 37 grassroots organizers and activists, environmental professionals, concerned citizens, and policy Military Conversion Resources......................................................... 45 makers alike. Race, Poverfy & the Environment Spring - Summer 1994 Page 3 Taking Back Fort Lawton Meeting the Needs of Seattle's Native American Community Through Conversion by Bernie Whitebear Editors note: We want to thank the author for sharing one hospital to the next under the mistaken assumption that this draft with us. The author notes that this is a first draf. the Federal government was responsible for the welfare of all Thejkal document will attempt to include all the names of Indians. those involved with the invasions and occupations at Fort In reality, the two federal assistance agencies responsible Luwton. Ifany of our readers know of anyone involved, for administering the trust status and "advocacy" of American please contact the author at (206) 285-4425. The final Indians,. the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian document will be printed for the 25th Anniversary of United Health Service (IHS), had developed a policy that in effect Indians in March 1995. meant that "once you left the reservation, you were no longer The March 1970 invasion and occupation of Fort Lawton, Indian." A technical translation basically meant that the BIA an active military base in the northwest section of Seattle, and IHS restricted their services to Indians who still was an attempt by Seattle's Native American community to resided on or near reservations and were under the administra- establish a land base to serve the largest urban Native tive authority and jurisdiction of Tribal Governments. American population west of Tulsa and north of San Fran- This policy, which began with the government's attempt to cisco. move the Indian people off their ancestral lands and into the Before the invasions and occupations, which lasted mainstream of society, is known as the "Termination Era of approximately three months, there were no Federal, State, the Fifties." In an attempt to end trust status and liquidate all County or City funds available for services to Native tribal assets, the federal government set up relocation pro- Americans in Seattle. The only social services were provided grams moving thousands of Indians into cities with promises by an organization of Indian women, operating from an old of better employment and educational opportunities. church, existing primarily on donations and volunteer help. This was the final injustice to Indian people by the govern- The organization was the American Indian Women's Service ment, after having stolen all but 55 million acres of our land, League. Pearl Warren was the director, and Joyce Reyes was and presided over the decimation of our culture and religion. the

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