Climate Change Is Inherently Racist But the Consequences Seemingly A Black Problem Initially Will Be Much More Dire For the Racists!
Climate change and racism are two of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century. They are also strongly intertwined. There is a stark divide between who has caused climate change and who is suffering its effects. People who have Eumelanin across the Global South are those who will be most affected by the climate crisis, even though their carbon footprints are generally very low. Similar racial divides exist within nations too, due to profound structural inequalities laid down by a long legacy of unequal power relationships.
Ironically in the long run the same reason those people are marginalized their darker complexion is the reason they will be the survivors as the globe enters a new age of high UV radiation and global warming! According to a BBC article "For some, it can be disconcerting to hear terms such as "racism" and "white supremacy" used in discussions about climate change. Climate change is often understood as an environmental issue, one that we are all in together, and therefore not something that could be in any way construed as racist."
When dealing with institutional racism, there may not be any one specific event or person that can be identified as the problem. The difference in how people are treated is buried away in processes and systems – "racism without racists" as it is sometimes described, even though it is clear who the system benefits is those with a visible proximity to whiteness. But nature doesn't care about that the effects on global populations without melanin is clear and present in the declining numbers worldwide of populations without melanin. Regardless of their economics, culture, politics, or access to medical aid.
When racism becomes structural in this way, it can operate without obvious intent. There may be no deliberate act of discrimination to find, no "racists" to identify and blame. This is certainly the case with climate change – there is no secret committee of white people plotting to impose climate disaster on the Global South. And yet people of color still find themselves at a disadvantage, and experience differences in outcomes that are visible in the statistics. Simultaneously people who are considered white or pheomelanin dominant see their negative outcomes in the decline of their demographics and this includes lighter skinned Indian populations that have been on a 20 year demographic decline!
While specific events are often tricky to attribute directly to climate change, the IPCC has observed all these impacts in India already. Although not part of the mainstream narrative worse is likely to come. Light skinned people of Bangladesh come of the traditional Brahmin, Kshatriya & Vaishya caste among the indigenous Bengali people (who are dark brown skinned) and also the Iranian settlers in the region like Persians, Kurds & Pashtuns during Bengal Sultanate period. Hence a lot of Bengalis are light skinned and a sizable portion of them have blue, brown, Hazel eyes. They are highly Caucasoid (Forsha) in phenotypical appearance. Bangladesh's Forsha population growth will drop to 0.37% by 2040 from the current 1.11% because of the continuous low fertility rate in that community.
Bangladesh has many similarities to India in regards to race and culture. The most common kind of Caucasians, you have in India are the Anglo Indians. Basically this community, traces it’s origins to the British times, and would refer to Britishers who settled down in India, or people of mixed British and Indian ancestry. However their numbers have also been declining, and many have migrated to Australia, UK and USA of late. During the British Rule, it was fairly common, for many Brit officers and soldiers to marry native Indian women.
Their descendants were initially referred to as Eurasians, but later on the term Anglo- Indian became more common. These Anglo Indians had their own culture, which was far more Westernized, spoke English, followed Christianity. Though their numbers have been steadily declining since 1947, they still have made their mark in many fields. They dominate the film, Television, and education fields, especially in most missionary schools. In the minds of many Indians, the Eurasians, working primarily as government servants, were firmly associated with subjugation and colonial rule. Historically special treatment has been given to those of lighter skin in the countries of India, Bangladesh and even China. Typical beauty standards in these countries involve praising those with lighter skin and more foreign features. For both India and China, the workers and farmers often had to do hard labor outside in the harsh sun, thereby darkening their skin. This darkening of the skin quickly became associated with workers and farmers, who have a lower status than the rich and nobility who don’t need to do outside work and are thus have lighter skinned complexions.
Regarding India in particular, foreign features are also favored. India has been ruled for over a thousand years by those of foreign background, including various Arab, Afghan and Turk dynasties, later being replaced by the British. These invaders occupied the upper echelons of society, and thus, their features often became associated with nobility and wealth. Recent surveys show that in majority of Indian states, fertility rate has fallen well below the replacement level of 2.1. According to data from National Family Health Survey-5, India's total fertility rate dropped below the replacement level of 2.1 in 2023, and currently stands at 1.9.
Tamás Hajdu and Gábor Hajdu of Hungary, took advantage of random variation in temperatures to examine the effects of heat from climate change shocks on conception rates, including looking at lagged effects from these shocks over time. Instances of human conception are counted in the study based on three outcomes: the number of live births, the number of abortions, and the number of clinically identified fetal losses (i.e., miscarriages).
The study uses data from Hungary, so the authors are careful to note that their results may not extend to populations everywhere. That said, Hungary is a modern "European" nation with a climate not unlike much of Europe and parts of the U.S., so the findings could have important implications.
First, the authors predict an overall decline in conception rates as a result of warming of the planet due to climate change. However, the authors suggest temperature is not associated with sexual activity according to prior research. More likely, heat tends to impair sperm quality and reduce sperm formation in populations without Eumelanin, and may also have implications for female reproduction. By extension, heat will tend to lower the overall probability of pregnancy by lowering fertility. In the study, there is an observed decline in conception rates following periods of high temperatures. However, the authors also observe the potential for shifts in pregnancies, with a corresponding increase in some conceptions in cooler periods—potentially leading to greater seasonal differences in the future.