Green Daily

This post is part of a series that consider the concept of environmental justice in the context of current environmental news. This interview also previews one of the speakers at Chicago's Green Fest, to be held the weekend of May 17 and 18.

I spoke with environmental activist Diane Wilson about her book, An Unreasonable Woman, in which she recounts her efforts to investigate chemical pollutants in her hometown of Seadrift, Texas.

I started by asking Diane how she would define environmental justice.

Diane: It has to do about environmental degradation that is specific for minority groups or sometimes it has to do about a class... because I know down in Texas in my issue [chemical pollutants in the ocean and community] it had to do about being a fisherman. It wasn't as much about [race/ethnicity] but it had a whole lot to do about being poor and being less than high school educated ... it is a lot about corporations very deliberately going to places that they think that they're going to have less of a chance to be sued or their permits won't be fought... where people can be intimidated. I think that deliberate action is environmental injustice.

Leslie: There are a lot of gender politics in An Unreasonable Woman-- including the title. Do you feel like some of the obstacles you describe facing in the book are still faced by women activists? Could you talk a little about that?

Diane: Absolutely. I'll tell you a little secret... I've met a lot of the women environmental activists in the country. I know we've all noticed this thing that most of the women environmental activists are divorced. Its not well known.... I believe its because for a woman to be out there its like she has to divide her attention with her other roles that we're expected to take care of. Even when you have a husband that is really strong on the environment... when his wife gets out there out front and starts taking a little attention from the home and her role changes... they go really ballistic over it. There are quite a lot of women activists that are divorced.

I know when I was doing one of my hunger strikes down here in Texas, I had the Texas Chemical Council [who] really focused the fact that I was a woman doing a hunger strike. They asked "where are that woman's kids?" and constantly gave me a hard time about taking care of the kids. They told me, very sarcastically, that I needed to be given a "mother of the year" award.

You know, one time Cesar Chavez did a hunger strike down here,... they didn't ask him about his kids. People ask all the time about the failing I had as a mother by doing this... and the thing is they don't see that there is value in teaching your kids to stand up for what you believe in, standing up for a greater good. If you're not doing stereotypical mother stuff [according to some critics] you are poor mother.

Leslie: What do you spend most of your time doing these days?

Diane: I've probably got too many projects... you listen to any activist... peace, environmental... You name it and they'll tell you focus, focus. I've got like 20 projects going on. There's the Texas jail project, a health study on mercury contamination out in the bay, trying to stop the dredging of the mercury contaminated sea floor, and 2 coal burning and one nuclear power plant are trying to come in to town.

I know a lot of people... automatically assume that you [as an activist and author who is now well known] left your small town. No, I'm still there, in the same town... a lot of folks from California ask why I'm going back to Texas. That's where the trenches are. People are shocked that I'm going back to Seadrift, but it is my home.