There’s Something In The Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities

by Ingrid R.G. Waldron

In There's Something In The Water, Ingrid R. G. Waldron examines the legacy of environmental racism and its health impacts in Indigenous and Black communities in Canada, using Nova Scotia as a case study, and the grassroots resistance activities by Indigenous and Black communities against the pollution and poisoning of their communities.

Using settler colonialism as the overarching theory, Waldron unpacks how environmental racism operates as a mechanism of erasure enabled by the intersecting dynamics of white supremacy, power, state-sanctioned racial violence, neoliberalism and racial capitalism in white settler societies. By and large, the environmental justice narrative in Nova Scotia fails to make race explicit, obscuring it within discussions on class, and this type of strategic inadvertence mutes the specificity of Mi'kmaq and African Nova Scotian experiences with racism and environmental hazards in Nova Scotia. By redefining the parameters of critique around the environmental justice narrative and movement in Nova Scotia and Canada, Waldron opens a space for a more critical dialogue on how environmental racism manifests itself within this intersectional context.

Waldron also illustrates the ways in which the effects of environmental racism are compounded by other forms of oppression to further dehumanize and harm communities already dealing with pre-existing vulnerabilities, such as long-standing social and economic inequality. Finally, Waldron documents the long history of struggle, resistance, and mobilizing in Indigenous and Black communities to address environmental racism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Environment, Indigenous, Social Justice, Race, Politics, Canada

184 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2018

Reviews

[Meg (She/They) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for any activist and/or academic fighting for environmental justice. Caution: Waldron has a tendency to use jargon, so prepare to do additional research if unfamiliar with environmental justice literature.

This book successfully addresses the lack of focus environmental academics have given to central pillars of environmental justice - race, class, gender, slavery, settler-colonialism, capitalism and the ways in which they uniquely intersect to produce diverse individual experiences. Environmentalism has strategically focused on conservation, wildlife protection, and sustainable development to avoid the politics of the historical, material, and structural ways white supremacy has created social inequalities.

Waldron offers a balanced approach using a detailed settler-colonial framework and community based participatory research (CBPR) results to demonstrate how environmental racism has been produced and sustained by the Canadian state. Giving a much needed spot light on CBPR, the ENRICH project is a perfect example of how principled research can sincerely make a valuable contribution to community and its struggle for justice.

This approach, in direct opposition to white dominated research initiatives that have left communities feeling over-researched and burned out, calls in researchers to form organic relationships, stay patient, prioritize joy, empathy, and celebration, and hire organizers that live in the region of study. A much needed reminder for Western academics that pride themselves on taking a neutral and distanced stance when engaging in data collection, which in reality is an approach that is complicit with white dominance.

Waldron sets the stage by exploring the origins of Indigenous and Black genocide in Canada, followed by an exploration into the ways white supremacy manifests itself in the 21st century. Like many say, “the book was better than the movie”, Waldron’s analysis of environmental racism goes far beyond physical manifestations, as depicted in the documentary, of white supremacy. On top of BIPOC communities facing the consequences of toxic industries claiming their land, Waldron points to poverty, food insecurity, job insecurity, and lack of quality education as additional consequences of discriminatory policy that is the product of environmental racism.

Examples of both Indigenous and Black communities experience with the effects of toxic effluent, fracking, PCB exposure, police violence, and regulatory neglect are put forward to show both the differences and similarities of their lived experiences. Common themes include: lack of political representation, little to no public/community consultation, and rejection of culturally significant processes/sites.

Naturally, a call for solidarity follows. Waldron provides ample evidence of anti-colonial movements that disrupted industry take over including Africville Genealogy Society, Lucasville Community Association, Idle No More, Pictou Landing First Nations, Millbrook, and Sipekne’katik First Nation.

While the book allocates few pages to discussing solutions, its strength lies in the ability to critically reflect on Canadian history, policy, and processes. Any researcher, upon reading this book, has a duty to center race in an environmental justice framework, validate and incorporate health equity impact assessments into their research, commit to culturally relevant participatory democracy, build coalitions between Indigenous-led, Black-led, and white-led organizations, and continue to interrogate research, policy actions, and activism rooted in colonial and white supremacist ideologies.

[Joanne MacNevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book a 3-star rating because I feel it is an important read. However, honestly, I would have preferred less academic speak, and more details about the concrete examples. I was really interested in what the individuals from the various communities had to say, and less interested in the philosophy. Plus, the philosophy was often repetitive - as is the way with academic books, I suppose. I just think the book would have been much more interesting if the author chose to discuss the philosophy and academic stuff in the first couple of chapters, and then, for the rest of the book, focus on the communities in Nova Scotia and the individuals in those communities.

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waldron provides a useful overview of environmental justice and environmental racism, which is then further elucidated through an analysis of historical and contemporary cases of environmental racism in Nova Scotia. Waldron centers the voices of members of the communities that their project worked with and provides some concrete steps for moving forward.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, incredible book about the reality of environmental racism here in Canada. I’ve learned so much from this book and will likely reread and reread it as much as possible.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this study, Waldron highlights how environmental crises/issues disproportionately affect Indigenous and Black communities in Canada (while focusing specifically on Nova Scotia). She asserts that these environmental issues cannot be addressed without considering their intersections with race, class, gender, and structural determinants of health, and that they ultimately reflect environmental racism perpetuated by a larger colonial/neoliberal system.

Importantly, Waldron's study also makes it clear that environmental activism that ignores this intersectionality and does not centre the experiences and autonomy of Indigenous and Black communities is simply an extension of settler colonialism.

While this book is from an academic perspective, Waldron's writing is captivating and she explains the framework for her study really clearly. A short but very informative read that has really expanded my understanding of intersectionality and the importance of addressing environmental racism in one's activism.

[Natasha Penney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stark lesson on environmental racism in Canada. This book is geared towards activists/academics who are already familiar with a lot of government programs and ongoing activism around protecting water sources, so I did have to so some additional research in places. But it was such a valuable read.

[livresdelaura · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I loved about “There’s Something In The Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities” by Ingrid R. G. Waldron:⁣
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1) For those who live on the east coast of Canada, this book should be necessary reading! I never really learned about environmental racism other than briefly in university and this book was a great way to read up on issues in my own backyard.⁣
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2) The book was used as reference for the documentary by the same name on Netflix produced by Ellen Page and Ian Daniel. The documentary is also a must see but if you’re a nerd like me and love a good research-based non-fiction, look no further!⁣
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3) Overall this one brings home an incredibly important message concerning the land that has been traditionally home to Black and Indigenous folks being used by corporations and governments in harmful ways that has effected folks for generations and will continue to do so. You neeeed to add this one to your anti-racist summer reading list! ⁣

[Artemis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of important information for those who are not already aware of the issues presented within.
It is not the easiest book to read, but that may have been a personal issue due to my understanding a lot of the concepts already. I still have plenty of quotes tagged in the book, however, so it's definitely worth the full rating. Also, some things are worth working through, and this book is one of them.

Thank you for the great book.

[Taiya Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a great and enlightening read on a very important topic. Provides sufficient information, context, experience, and action on the topic so readers come out more knowledgeable. Only downfall would perhaps be the writing style in some places. When I've read passages to others they have complained that writing is too academic and may be a barrier for those not used to reading academic papers.

[Ciarán · Rating 1 out of 5]

The rating is no comment on the ideas, just a judgment of it as a book. The author suffers greatly from logorrhea. This book is archetypical academic text that is far longer than necessary, has too many references and is overloaded with buzzwords.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very academic, but so fascinating! I'd wanted to read this since I saw the documentary that was based on it at TIFF 2019, and glad that I actually managed to make it relevant to my (school) work. Going to be a very important text for my thesis.

[Callie Dougall · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️ because the content was very interesting and important, and an enlightening resource on the topic of environmental racism. However it felt like I was reading an academic paper the whole time which had an adverse effect on the impact this book could have (for me at least!)

[Tierney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really important read for anyone interested in environmental health (in)equities but a bit more high-level than I was hoping for from this

[Jamie Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully written and extremely well researched, There’s Something in the Water is an eye-opening book that reveals many details of marginalized communities struggles combatting environmental racism. It highlights the long road that Canada has ahead in doing right by Indigenous and Black communities and eradicating the structural issues that lead to environmental racism in the first place. I am very glad to have been recommended this book and would recommend it to every Canadian. I had never heard of the terms “environmental racism” and “environmental justice” prior to reading this book and I am glad that I am no longer ignorant to the fact that systemic racism in Canada is ongoing in multifaceted ways.

[Antara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A relatively short book to propel me deeper into my awareness journey about indigenous issues in Canada. Environmental racism wasn’t really on my radar until recently, and I’m shocked at my previous ignorance. Canada needs to wake up and realize that when it comes to the systemic racism we so condemn in the states, it’s happening right in our backyards to the indigenous and vulnerable population.

[Rickie Skidmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learnt a lot reading this book. Very interesting, important, and needed information and tactics within these pages. This book has influenced me to learn more and listen more to those who are most impacted with climate change and environmental damage. Wish it didn’t use as much “academic language” because I dont feel it’s easily accessible to everyone, and I think it should be something everyone reads.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for any East Coast environmental group or anyone concerned about the environmental impact government decisions have on marginalized communities. A little too academic for the casual reader, it nevertheless goes far in explaining environmental racism in Nova Scotia up to the present.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very important information, but as someone studying health sciences I found it a lot too academic and written with inaccessible language at times. For that reason, it took me half a year to read because I kept putting it down. Glad I finished though, it was informative.

[Chelsea M · Rating 4 out of 5]

High rating for the important subject content, but I do recommend also watching the 2019 documentary by the same name that was directed by Elliot Page - there is where you get the most human-based interactions, whereas the book is quite heavily academic.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A necessary read for all Nova Scotians.

[Gemington · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: environmental racism, poisoning and significant environmental destruction targeting African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq communities

I wanted to engage more deeply with what and how environmental devastation was taking place in Nova Scotia. This scholarly book, while dated, places the voices and lived experiences of African Nova Scotians and Mi’kmaq communities into broader academic conversations about race, place, climate change and environmental injustice. Waldron calls it like it is: environmental racism that is making folks sicker, denying them wealth and wellbeing in order to make white folks more comfortable and better off. Lots of concrete community oriented examples of issues and the folks working to resist the onslaught.

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was certainly an interesting read, and it brought my attention to an area of environmental racism that I had not been familiar with before. However, it was incredibly dry and difficult to slog through. It read more like a doctoral thesis, citing every single source, outlining - in detail - every single chapter. Often using the phrase “I have an understanding of….” or “This book focuses on….”. It came across as scholarly and academic, rather than informative for the everyday person. It lacked emotion and depth, focusing more on technical. I am glad that it brought my attention to an issue that I had not been familiar with, and it sparked my interest in learning more about it….just not from her.

[Maia Lugar · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was incredibly informative, it switched back and forth between academic and personal first-person narrative, which threw me off.

On a personal note, the margins are justified, which I find makes it easy for the eyes to skip over parts of the text, especially with something so dense such as this. The in-text citations also threw me off - I believe the book is meant to be read as a narrative, and if I’m correct, it would benefit from having footnotes/endnotes so that the text isn’t so broken up.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written like a dissertation, this book offers a concise but thorough collection of examples of environmental racism in Canada. This is an important piece to bridge the gap between environmental justice studies and race studies, but sometimes it was difficult to read through the jargon (despite that I'm familiar with this body of literature). Although this is a great text for academics, I think it would be difficult to get through for those outside of academia who are interested in the topic. It would be cool if there was a more accessible summary for the public and policy makers as well.

[Diamond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such an important topic and discussion but the writing made me want to fall asleep. The writing is very cut and dry, here are the facts and the research to back it up. I think it is important to have a very well researched book and have studies to support your case but the writing took a backseat in this book. I found the writing also to not be very accessible which is a shame because information in this book should be accessible to everyone.

[dobbs the dog · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a lot of work to read and I will admit that I really struggled with it!
A lot of the information is really good, but is presented in such an academic way that it is completely inaccessible. It honestly felt like I was reading a thesis, there was so much jargon and references that it made it difficult to read.

[Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an important book and I urge everyone to read it. It addresses issues in Canada that have been neglected for too long. I did find it hard to read because the writing was heavily academic and because of that, it felt like a bit of a task at times to get through. I'm glad I finished it though and I encourage others to stick with it.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waldron is a great author, the book packs a lot of information to so few pages. The book covers some very prominent examples of environmental racism in Nova Scotia in great detail, Waldron talks both about how these situations came about and steps that need to be taken. This book was really well done but it was a little dense at parts, which can be hard to get through.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has sections that are very academic and sometimes the writing can come across as pompous.
However, there is some very good and very important information here that needs to be read.
Environmental Racism is a very serious issue and we have a lot of work to do!

[Sian · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read!! a wonderful example of decolonial community based research that highlights Indigenous & Black environmental racism in a canadian context

it is written in a professional academic prose so the writing style may be tedious to some readers. there’s also a great documentary!!!