Excerpt from Glen MacDonald's "Creating and Preserving Actionable and Policy Relevant Geography" published Jan. 29th, 2017
... Not only would the creation
of new Federal geospatial databases on racial disparities be
prohibited, so too would access to existing geospatial information of
this sort and the use of Federal funds from agencies such as the
National Science Foundation to study such data. As written, this
represents a direct attack on the ability of geographers and others to
produce actionable and policy relevant research on racial disparities in
this country. What then can be done about the threat posed by S.103 and
H.R. 482 to geospatial and geographical information and research? The
AAG has already drafted and sent a letter of concern to Senator Lee.
However, I would suggest more needs be done by our members directly.
First, spread the word to geographers, other scholars and the public
about the threat posed by S.103 and H.R. 482. Second, take a moment to
contact your Federal Senators and representative – easily done via https://www.usa.gov/elected-
Join the conversation on Twitter #PresidentAAG.
Thanks Jack!
Please take a look at my February AAG President’s Column which takes aim at these bills and suggests some actions folks can take.
http://news.aag.org/2017/01/cr
eating-and-preserving-actionab le-and-policy-relevant- geography/
The AAG has also already sent a letter of protest to the bills’ senate authors.
Cheers,
Glen
From: Jack Jen Gieseking [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2017 8:11 PM
To: Discussion list for Feminism in Geography; Discussion list on participatory geographies; revisitingcriticalgis; [log in to unmask]; Urban Geography Discussion and Announcement Forum; sxsgeog; Glen MacDonald; [log in to unmask]; Sarah Bednarz; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; Douglas Richardson; David Coronado; [log in to unmask]
Subject: FYI: HR 482 and SB 103 - attack on geospatial information, antiracism work, and affordable housing
Dear Geographers,
We are writing to bring your attention to the US HR 482 and SB 103, which are an attack on the collection, storage, and distribution of geospatial information, antiracism work, and affordable housing (see below). The text of the bill, “Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act of 2017,” will nullify HUD's 2015 “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” report to "have no force or effect," and does so by eliminating the data to support social change.
In other words, the bill stands at odds with the pursuit of knowledge about human geography, including census data. The bill would prohibit a significant amount of the work we do on race, racism, and fair housing in the US, as well as GIS research more broadly, all of which thwart work towards social justice. A key section reads as follows:SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be used to design, build, maintain, utilize, or provide access to a Federal database of geospatial information on community racial disparities or disparities in access to affordable housing.
We encourage feedback, wisdom, and action among our respective lists, AAG specialty groups, other collectives and collegial relationships, and the AAG leadership. We ask you to share word about this bill with colleagues in other disciplines and on social media, using the hashtags #datarefuge and #datarescue when doing so to connect this issue to larger issues of public data and public data collection erasure, obfuscation, and elimination. We also encourage US citizens to reach out to your congressional representatives or to organize from afar in solidarity to stop this bill. Full links to the Senate and House bills are below.
Thanks to Euan Hague for bringing this to the CRIT-GEOG list's attention, and for Reed Underwood's response.Onward together,
Jack Gieseking, Trinity College
Emily Mitchell-Eaton, USCS
Hector Agredano, CUNY Graduate CenterElizabeth R. Johnson, Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Naomi Adiv, Portland State University
Ryan Burns, University of Calgary
Senate Bill 103: https://www.congress.gov/bill/
115th-congress/senate-bill/103 /text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B% 22S103%22%5D%7D&r=1
House Bill 482: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/482/ text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%2 2HR482%22%5D%7D&r=1
--
Jen Jack Gieseking
Assistant Professor of Public Humanities
American Studies Program, Trinity College300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106