The nation was founded on the principles of "free land" (stolen from Native Americans and Mexicans), "free labor" (cruelly extracted from African slaves), and "free men" (white men with property). From the outset, institutional racism shaped the economic, political, and ecological landscape, and buttressed the exploitation of both land and people. (Robert D. Bullard, "Anatomy of Environmental Racism and the Environmental Justice Movement")
[The Earth] is perceived, ironically, as ...