“How can maps fight racism and inequality? Maps are not ideologically neutral location guides. Mapmakers choose what to include and exclude, and how to display information to users.”

SOURCE: The Conversation

This article is written by two geography professors (@MLKStreet and @JoshGeog), but it is written for a general audience to learn about how cartography and geography can help us understand the historical impacts of racism on the landscape, and how cartography and geography can be a part of the solution.  In a society with racism and official institutions upholding them, creating maps is an act of resistance and a path towards greater social justice within society.   This article explores Black Panther resistance, redlining, counter-mapping, and modern digital maps that are shining a light of racial inequities. 

Questions to Ponder:

  • In what ways are maps biased sources of information?
  • What is redlining?
  • What impact does redlining still have on American cities?
  • What is the purpose of counter-mapping?
  • What value does diversity of mapmakers (both demographic characteristics of individual cartographers and of the organizations creating maps) have on the production of knowledge?   

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