How Maps Can Help Us Create a More Just World | Clinton Johnson | TEDxMidAtlantic

Key Concepts

Racism, maps, racial justice, geography, redlining, spatial data, GIS (Geographic Information Systems), racial equity, Great Migration, colonization, triangular trade, historical mapping practices, data bias, community involvement, policy design.

Is Time Racist?

The speaker opens by questioning the common phrase "change takes time" in the context of racial justice. They argue that attributing racism to time obscures the deliberate actions that caused and perpetuate it. Examples include:

• Segregation: Was it time or racist maps that controlled access to society?
• Colonization of Africa and Enslavement: Was it time or the maps created by countries and corporations to carve up Africa and chart courses for conquest and enslavement?

The speaker asserts that time is not racist, but maps can be.

The Power and Peril of Maps

Maps are powerful tools used daily for various purposes, including:

• Climate change management
• Broadband access planning
• Pothole management
• Urban planning
• Public health initiatives
• Disaster response

However, maps that ignore race or maps of vulnerable populations can perpetuate racism and put communities of color at risk.

Historical Examples of Racist Mapping

• 1400s: Portuguese mapping of Africa to facilitate kidnapping and enslavement.
• 1500s: The triangular trade of enslaved people was well-mapped and established, leading to the violent removal of 12.5 million people from their communities. This is more than the population of Portugal.
• Conference in Berlin (1884): European and US leaders used a map of Africa to design its division and exploitation.
• Redlining (1934): The US government implemented redlining practices in over 200 cities, using racist maps to support segregation. This denied mortgages and property ownership to Black people in designated areas. The speaker's family experienced this firsthand in Philadelphia.

Contemporary Examples of Racial Disparities and Mapping

• Hurricane Katrina: 51% of deaths in Louisiana were Black people, despite making up only 33% of the state's population. This highlights how existing spatial data and mapping practices can predict and perpetuate racial disparities during disasters.
• COVID-19: Early maps and charts of the pandemic were often "colorblind," failing to account for racial disparities. Black people were two to six times more likely to die from COVID-19. In Washington D.C., 72% of deaths were Black people, who only made up 45% of the population.

Personal Experiences and the Northstar of GIS

The speaker shares a personal anecdote about being uninvited from an IT leadership team after suggesting ways to involve Black and Latino boys in technology using maps. This experience led to the creation of the Northstar of GIS, a nonprofit organization focused on:

• Growing a melanated and mapping community of Black mapping students, educators, entrepreneurs, and professionals.
• Promoting mapping practices rooted in racial justice.
• Highlighting the work of the melanated and mapping community globally.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) is defined as digital mapping.

Change Takes Action

The speaker refutes the idea that "change takes time," arguing that change requires action. They also challenge the notion that racial justice is a marathon or relay race, stating that it is a race against systems of oppression that must be won.

Call to Action

The speaker urges those who use and create maps to:

1. Involve Black people and other marginalized groups in the creation of data and maps.
2. Design maps and policies to advance racial justice from the beginning, not as an afterthought.

By doing so, we can collectively "bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice."

Synthesis/Conclusion

The speech argues that maps, while seemingly objective tools, have historically been used to perpetuate racism and inequality. By acknowledging this history and actively working to create maps and policies that prioritize racial justice, we can challenge existing power structures and create a more equitable future. The key takeaway is that change requires deliberate action and the inclusion of marginalized voices in the mapping process.