Often lost in the recent criticism of the Red Plan is the impact it will have on the Central City. Some of the central city’s best advocates have remained astonishingly mute on this topic.
One of the troubling aspects of the lobbying for the Red Plan has been JCI’s insinuation of itself into organizations that will promote the Red Plan. This, of course, includes the Chamber of Commerce of and local unions and contractors.
But the plan has also been supported by LISC (Local Initiative Support Organization) an organization devoted to making abandoned and impoverished neighborhoods whole. Duluth’s LISC’s President Pam Kramer was on the original Citizens Committee. I’ve been told that she originally had great objections to the direction JCI was taking the District because its plans meant that some of the impoverished neighborhoods LISC has worked to heal would be left without schools one of the critical ingredients for a healthy neighborhood.
JCI works closely with the national LISC organization and it has some influential allies on LISC’s local Board of Directors They include such Red Plan heavy hitters as Johnson Wilson Construction and Dr. Dixon. Whether Dr. Dixon is there to support hardscrabble neighborhoods or to keep them silent is anybody’s guess.
I was reminded of this when a friend sent me this entry from Wikipedia today.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Environmental justice (EJ) refers to inequitable environmental burdens borne by groups such as racial minorities, women, residents of economically disadvantaged areas, or residents of developing nations. Environmental justice proponents generally view the environment as encompassing “where we live, work, and play” (sometimes “pray” and “learn” are also included) and seek to redress inequitable distributions of environmental burdens (pollution, industrial facilities, crime, etc.) and equitably distribute access to environmental goods such as nutritious food, clean air & water, parks, recreation, health care, education, transportation, safe jobs, etc. Self-determination and participation in decision-making are key components of environmental justice. According to a compilation of thoughts by several notable EJ organizations, root causes of environmental injustices include “institutionalized racism; the commodification of land, water, energy and air; unresponsive, unaccountable government policies and regulation; and lack of resources and power in affected communities”.[1]
http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/
