City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1322557
"When community engagement is not done thoroughly or effectively, people may feel like the tree that was planted in front of their house was something else that was done to them, instead of for them." in the first place. 8,9 In other words, tree-planting initiatives in recent decades have focused largely on addressing the symptoms of racism (i.e. lower tree canopy coverage in non-white neighborhoods), rather than the causes of this race-based ineq- uity (i.e. systemic, racist institutions that provide greater access to financial resources and deci- sion-making power about the urban environment to predominately white individuals and groups). This evidence demonstrates that urban forest ineq- uities in the U.S. are the result of historical trauma. While trauma is defined as a "deeply disturbing or distressing experience," 10 the U.S. Administration for Children and Families defines historical trauma as "intergenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group that has a history of being systemati- cally oppressed." 11 The end of slavery in the U.S. did not end systematic oppression of Black Americans, it simply marked a different chapter in the search for equality among generations of Black Americans—a search which continues through fights for environ- mental justice and equitable urban forests today. The U.S. Administration for Children and Families goes on to state, "Current lifespan trauma, super- imposed upon a traumatic ancestral past creates additional adversity." Furthermore, "Human services providers working with members of under- served cultural groups can help by gaining a fuller understanding of clients' historical and commu- nity context." 12 This same logic applies to urban and community forestry practitioners working in communities marginalized on the basis of race and income, as I learned during my dissertation research in Detroit, Michigan from 2013-2017. I grew up in Mason, Michigan, which is a pre- dominately white, middle class suburb of Lansing, Michigan, surrounded by beautiful, well-maintained street trees. I did not realize this was a privileged experience until I began my PhD in Forestry at Michigan State University in 2013. My PhD advisor approached me with what I thought at the time was a perplexing issue: A non-profit tree-planting organization in Detroit, Michigan was strug- gling to plant street trees due to a large number of "no-tree requests" submitted by Detroit 18 CityTREES