Acting Citizen: Racial Inequity through a Botanical Lens

By James Knudsen

Following the death of George Floyd in May of 2020, some Americans have sought to improve issues surrounding racial inequity. Attending protest marches, running for public office, and changing the racially incentivized packaging of your product, are three ways attempts have been, and are still being, made to address our nation’s oldest and most vexing issue. And yet, with all the progress realized, the work remaining seems to increase with each passing year.
    The author [that’s me] went so far as to attend a series of workshops last fall. The goal of the series, “Ram REL (Racial Equity Lab),” is to educate professors on how racial biases may affect their assessment of students. And before anyone starts a petition to canonize the “Acting Citizen” [that’s me], please note that I was monetarily compensated for my attendance.
    Data are an important part of Ram REL. [Rams are the mascot of Fresno City College.] A database of past courses taught is now available to professors to examine the grades they have issued over the years. The data can be broken down in a myriad of ways to consider race, gender, age, and other variables that impact a student’s likelihood of success – variables that professors who never attended a community college might not be aware of. 

    And there are factors unique to certain ethnic groups that even a professor who did attend a community college may never have considered. For example, the Fresno region is known for having a significant Hmong population. Students from this demographic are more likely to be needed at home to care for both younger siblings and elderly family members.
    The workshops brought historical facts about Fresno to light. The well-known practice of “red-lining” was employed for decades to create segregated communities via the power of the purse, as opposed to more “traditional/legal” methods. The issue of one’s zip code’s being the most important factor determining that one’s chances of success has been a talking point for some time. It is used by progressives to advocate for greater government spending, and by some on the right to argue for school choice. 

    But this sort of data are complex, and factors other than geography can be offered to counter the argument. Humans are complicated creatures; something simpler is needed to illustrate the importance of “location, location, location.” And so, I give you, Zantedeschia aethiopica, the Calla Lily.

Calla Lilies have for decades graced the Knudsen home in Tulare, California, where I spent many years. Being a rhizome type of plant, the Calla Lily can spread out over distances and without the help of a gardener. And it is worth noting at this point that nothing – and by nothing, I mean NOTHING – has been done for these Calla Lilies. \

    With that information in mind, consider this stand of Calla Lilies:

Photo dated April 11

    Note the red concrete, the beige stucco with its distinctive trowel marks. And now consider these:

Photo taken the same day as the other

     Same red concrete, same beige stucco, but twice as many lilies, and the foliage fills the frame. These two flower beds receive equal neglect, but the outcomes cannot be more stark. 

    The first group live on the south side of the house. They receive constant sunlight, the soil is parched, and the result is stunted growth. 

    The second picture are the north-side lilies. They live in a much cooler, shadier patch of ground. The soil retains its moisture, and the plants are lush and healthy. Many of the north-side lilies will go on to grace the interiors of fine homes. 

    And sometimes I forget that the lilies on the south side are even there.

Copyright © 2022 by James Knudsen