Social Justice Short Answer

Explain the contrast between the Indigenous story of Skywoman and the Biblical story of Eve, and what lesson Kimmerer draws from this contrast.

Skywoman (Indigenous): Arrived with the Tree of Life in hand, was aided by animals, and was an ancestral gardener and co-creator of the good world. She embodies reciprocity and indigenous status is achieved by living as if future generations matter.

Eve (Biblical/Western): Was banished to the wilderness and told to "subdue" the earth and earn her bread "by the sweat of her brow". She is an exile just passing through an alien world.

Kimmerer's Lesson: Both stories are part of our shared world, but the land bears the scars of their meeting. The Skywoman story leads to a "generous embrace of living world," while the Eve story leads to banishment and domination, framing humanity as separate from and superior to nature. Kimmerer advocates a "re-story-ation" to heal our relationship with the land.

How did activists and Robert D. Bullard reframe environmental issues as a civil rights struggle?

Historically, environmental issues were viewed as a concern for "saving trees" rather than "saving low-income housing".

Black activists began reframing their struggle for environmental equity as a direct struggle against institutionalized racism and an extension of the quest for social justice in the early 1980s.

They demonstrated that noxious facility siting disproportionately affected minority communities regardless of class ("Cancer Alley").

They argued that disparate enforcement of environmental policies contributes to neighborhood decline just like housing discrimination and redlining.

Explain the structural vs. cultural approaches to health inequity and why Paul Farmer and his colleagues practice "going to the patient."

Cultural Competency focuses on how a patient's background, narratives, or personality shapes their health conditions or mistrust in medicine.

Structural Competency looks at the systemic causes (zoning laws, poverty, etc.) of poor health outcomes and aims to intervene at the level of neighborhoods, institutions, and policies.

Paul Farmer's work and that of Dr. David Walton in Haiti demonstrate a structural approach: "When a patient doesn't come in, we go find them". This practical action bypasses the bureaucratic language of "lost to follow-up" , addressing structural barriers like transportation and social support (the "Five S's") directly, because a strong health system must ensure essential resources for care.

How did activists and Robert D. Bullard reframe environmental issues as a civil rights struggle?

Focus on the shift from "saving trees" to demanding environmental equity. Mention "Cancer Alley" and the data showing that noxious facilities disproportionately affect Black communities regardless of class (not just poverty). It became a fight against institutionalized racism and a demand for the right to a healthy environment

In what ways did Partners in Health (PIH) help citizens of Cange, Haiti, and what is the underlying philosophy?

PIH co-founded by Paul Farmer, Jim Yong Kim, and Ophelia Dahl. Philosophy: "The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong" and health is a human right. They implement the "Five S's" (Staff, Stuff, Space, Systems, Social Support – food/housing/transportation). Their practice of 'structural competency' involves 'going to the patient' and addressing the social fault lines (poverty/injustice) as biological problems

Explain the concept of Structural Competency and how it differs from Cultural Competency in a medical context.

Cultural Competency focuses on an individual's background (identity, culture, narratives) to explain health outcomes. Structural Competency looks at the systemic causes (e.g., racism, poverty, housing, zoning laws) that produce health inequities. It prepares doctors to actively intervene at the institutional and policy level rather than just focusing on the individual patient.

How does Jonathan Metzl explain why some white Americans vote against their economic self-interest?

Metzl's core argument in Dying of Whiteness is that this voting behavior is driven by racial resentment and a desire to preserve their racial hierarchy. The policies they support (like anti-ACA, opposing taxes for 'welfare queens') are often self-injurious, leading to higher rates of dropout, disease, and lost life expectancy, which Metzl calls a literal willingness to die for their status.

What does bell hooks mean when she describes Black language as a 'counter-hegemonic worldview'?

After being forced to adopt the oppressor's language, Black Americans reinvented English by creating a vernacular (like AAVE). This allowed them to communicate beyond the "boundaries of conquest and domination". This new language forged a space of resistance and "alternative epistemologies" (ways of knowing) that fundamentally challenge white supremacy and the dominant culture's fixed definitions of reality.

What tensions does the term 'Intersectionality' address in political and social movements, according to Collins and Bilge?

It challenges the idea that any single axis of oppression (like only race or only gender) can account for all social inequality. It specifically challenges the myths that racial democracy is achieved or that a movement (like the Black Power or early feminist movement) can represent or adequately address the interlocking concerns of a diverse group like Black working-class queer women. It mandates that liberation movements must cooperate (they all "intersect in our global everyday").

Explain the main critique of the hyper-individualism and isolation promoted by modern digital technology in the context of the course.

The slides suggest that technological dependence and the rise of the digital world contribute to growing economic and geographical disparities, distancing us from a sense of community32. This undermines the core social justice goals of communal responsibility and collective well-being (seen in civic republicanism) in favor of isolated individualism and consumerism333333333333333333.

Discuss the link between anti-immigrant sentiment and national identity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as expressed by Theodore Roosevelt and in the push for exclusion laws.

Focus on Roosevelt’s demand for 'True Americanism' and the explicit demand for immigrants (Irish, German, etc.) to shed their language/culture to maintain 'one sole loyalty'. Mention that Chinese and other Asian immigrants were deemed an economic, racial, and moral threat. The result was the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), marking the end of unlimited immigration.

How does Mae Ngai argue that the 'Model Minority' stereotype became a political tool to justify Asian American inclusion while marginalizing others?

Ngai notes that Asian Americans cannily promoted traits like being 'quiet, good workers, good students' as a way to assert loyalty during the Cold War. This stereotype was then 'weaponized' by others to marginalize and 'discipline Black and Latino people'. By embracing this, some Asian Americans sought to shift their status from 'definitively not white' to 'definitively not Black'.

Explain the flow of 'Fast Fashion' waste and its consequences for developing nations like Ghana, illustrating a form of environmental injustice.

Fast Fashion is defined as low-priced, stylish clothing introduced rapidly. The slides illustrate a supply chain where consumers donate unwanted clothing to charity, which then exports unsold items to the global second-hand market (like Kantamanto in Accra, Ghana). A high percentage of these bales (up to 40%) is waste, which is left in illegal dumps, polluting rivers, lagoons, and beaches. This is a form of environmental injustice where Western consumerism exports its waste burden to the Global South.

In the context of the course, why is the argument 'We cannot live without our lives' significant?

This phrase comes from the Combahee River Collective Statement (a Black feminist lesbian organization). It signifies the core of intersectional politics: the struggle for Black women's liberation is all-encompassing, demanding freedom not just from racial or economic oppression, but from all systems of control, especially those that compromise their existence. Their freedom is framed as the litmus test: "If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free...".

Explain the difference between a refugee and an asylee, and how the Preclearance process undermines asylum claims.

A refugee applies for protection while overseas and enters the U.S. with approved status. An asylee requests protection after they arrive at or within a U.S. port of entry. The Preclearance process (where U.S. officials inspect travelers in foreign airports) makes it difficult or impossible for asylum seekers to reach U.S. soil. By denying them entry before they reach U.S. jurisdiction, the U.S. can sidestep its obligations under the international policy of non-refoulement