2023 / Black communities, COVID, Green spaces

Black Bodies and Green Spaces: Remembering the Eminence of Nature During a Pandemic

Citation

Roberts, J. D., Omidvar Tehrani, S., & Bratman, G. N. (2023). Black Bodies and Green Spaces: Remembering the Eminence of Nature During a Pandemic. In Sport and Physical Culture in Global Pandemic Times: COVID Assemblages (pp. 213-240). Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14387-8_9

Link to file

The COVID-19 pandemic did more than show how much people value nature and open public spaces — it also laid bare the deep and ongoing presence of racism in American institutions. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials encouraged people to visit parks and green spaces as a safer way to get through the pandemic, the harmful and persistent racism that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) experience was fully exposed.

This chapter looks at the built, social, and natural environments to explore historical and present-day inequities rooted in structural racism. It critically examines the toxic link between race- and class-based privilege and place — and how that connection shaped people’s access to nature and green space, especially during the pandemic.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed not only the true value of nature and open public spaces, but it reified the presence and persistence of racism in and throughout American institutions. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials encouraged people to visit parks and green spaces as a way to be safe against COVID-19 transmission, the toxic presence and persistence of racism experienced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) was fully exposed. Through an examination of built, social and natural environments, this chapter will delve into historical and contemporary inequities stemming from structural racism. The toxic interrelationship between race-/class-based privilege and place, as well as its impact on nature and green space access and connection, particularly throughout the pandemic will be critically assessed.