Barrio Logan Environmental Racism

Research Question: Why are poor minority neighborhoods disproportionately targeted for the placement of noxious toxic facilities?

Did you know that 35 out of 57 waste sites in the eastern part of Los Angeles were located in zip codes with at least half the population consisting of Latinos? (Pulido 21) This is a direct and apparent representation of environmental racism in our country. In particular, its existence could be closely observed in the recent dispute of an urban farmland in South Central Los Angeles. Frankly, environmental racism had little effect on the actual dissolution of the South Central farm, as it was an issue of property rights. Instead, environmental racism played a significant role in the confrontation process that led to the closure by excluding minority groups, especially Latinos, from decision processes and obstructing their effort to conserve the farmland.

As investigation continued, these same areas of Beaverton with the worst pollution in town also proved to house some of the poorest and uneducated persons living in Beaverton. Proper analysis of the statistics on these two areas of Beaverton showed some chilling facts. These two areas ranked at or above the 75th percentile on the demographic index, minority population, low income, linguistically isolated persons, and those with less than a high school education. Now, I began to realize that my hometown has environmental justice issues of its

As a neighborhood that has always been regarded as low-income the newly renovated downtown and plaza area is a distinct contrast to it. “El Segundo Barrio had some of the worst housing conditions in the country. Once compared to the poor, slum areas of Kolkata, India, the city gradually made improvements to the neighborhood.” (Natassia Bonyanpour). Gentrification can be threatening to the history of this neighborhood, but the remnants of the early days of immigration, the “Chicano” movement and “Pachuco” lifestyle of Zoot Suits and black leather pointed shoes, will always be embedded into the street signs and sidewalks, as long as people still call the neighborhood

Looking at these situations closely, the residents of the Dona Park had every right to complain for environmental injustice. The soil contamination issues found after assessments were addressed, but that could not separate the fact that the residents were indeed living in unsafe environment, as they were exposed to the metal particles prior to the cleanup operations. The poor community had the reason to think of discrimination due to lacking actions to keep the safety of the residents. The exposure to the wastes of the plant could have not caused immediate health effects, so the recent health advisory of the Texas health department based on the latest TCEQ

Environmental racism is a type of discrimination where people of minority and or low income communities are forced to near a hazardous area; such as a nuclear deposits, mining drainage sites, or chemical plants. This concept has been debated for decades. Big businesses have been able to take advantage of minority communities for many years now. Environmental racism is not a thing of the past; it is still in full effect to the people of Flint, Michigan and the Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. Due to social media awareness, the issue of environmental racism has been brought to a new light, causing protests to take place nationally.

The number of white residents living within a mile of treatment and environmental toxic disposal facilities has increased. Environmental justice advocates have discovered the disproportionate placement of hazardous waste facilities in low-income communities of color throughout the United States. California, specifically, is a culturally diverse state with changing demographics and major issues with pollution. Although pollution and waste is a widespread problem, it has been more negatively impactful to communities of color than those of whites. Environmental racism demonstrates several instances of causation and correlation between ethnicity and exposure to pollution.

The viewers were given an overview of the existing issues and shown some examples of projects aimed at solving these issues in various cities across America. One issue profiled was the change in ethnic composition of suburban residents which was discussed as visits to Muslim-American, Latino and Asian-American communities took place. Showing various aspects of these communities in real time and comparing them to the beliefs about these same communities which were clearly untrue or changed has made the case for why suburban developments as intended are not a sustainable plan going forward. That set the stage for the final message as the need to revise the vision for new development and redevelopment with an emphasis on defining a sustainable vision which is both economically viable and incorporates the changes witnessed since the developments were built. Then the film showcased some regional best management practices that have addressed and solved a few of the developmental and infrastructure problems back in 2008, and also profiled Long Island as the first modern suburban

The low and middle class communities unlike the upper class have to deal with a lot more pollution. Not only this but the fact that pollution is located primarily in black and brown communities. Sheila R. Foster one of the writers behind “From the Ground Up : Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement” has talked mainly about the impact of environmental hazards, particularly toxic waste dumps and polluting factories, on black people and low and middle class communities. Like previously said pollution impacts how a community appears. It impacts the people and their children. It impacts how the future would look for that community. Research has said that in the next few decade or so ghettos will have to deal with

As sad as it is, environmental racism is an institutionalized practice, which immoral governments use to keep the poor poorer and living in highly polluted communities, while keeping the best areas for the White, powerful, and rich. It also has to do with immoral companies that knowing that they are hurting local citizens, they keep ignoring the damage they causing to others. For example, just recently in Porter Ranch and other vicinity, the gas company let them live in the middle of the largest methane gas leak. I am sure that they will be paying more in punitive damages and fines, than they could have spent to stop the leak and clean the area, before the public opinion denounced their crime. Sadly, right after this incident SOCAL had another

Arizona is on the rise as one of the fastest metropolitan areas in the United States of America. In fact, in 2015 Forbes Magazine ranks Phoenix, Arizona as the 11th fastest growing city in the U.S.1 This growth is due the unprecedented resources and growing opportunities in the state of Arizona. With all of these opportunities come more production, which means more emissions from various industries and cars, more fossil fuels burned, and household and farming chemicals added to the sky. All of these are examples of pollution; which is one the sacrifices that comes with being a large city that is emerging. Pollution is defined as the action or process of making land, water, air, etc., dirty and not safe or suitable to use.2 We understand that Phoenix is a rapidly growing city, but they should be able to grow without being a detriment to the environment and health of their citizens. The purpose of my report is to examine the problem of air pollution in Phoenix, Arizona and look at solutions to fix this problem.

Do you know what is in the air we are breathing every day of our lives? The water we drink? What causes us to feel different about the environment we call home? Many different cities, states and countries have different forms of pollution but here in Las Vegas, Nevada, we have almost all of the possible forms of pollution the environment could possibly have. Two of the seven types of pollution that Las Vegas has are land pollution and air pollution. None of these are good for neither our environment’s health nor our own health. Different examples of these types of pollution in Las Vegas are driving a car, smoking cigarettes and all of the construction that has been happening within the past year.

To further expand our comprehension of the topic, we will look at various articles and their stance on the issue of environmental racism. To begin, we will have a look at an article written by Thomas Davies, “Clean and White: A History of Environmental racism in the United States” which argues the importance of acknowledging climate change and pollution in the USA. He states that the USA is attempting to “sober up these practices” by acknowledging that there is a huge issue at hand. Climate change is a global issue that requires for sidelined issues of environmental racism to be acknowledged as well for the entire issue to be fixed as a whole. There are thousands of texts online that touch on this specific topic, and today, we will have a look at a few more.

This article relates to Week 3 Lecture about Physical and Social Environment, which describes the terrible smell, which is hydrogen sulfide has an indoor and outdoor pollutant. As an indoor pollutant, the smell enters people’s homes through their toilets. As an outdoor pollutant, sewers lines were poorly designed leading to the release of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide as an indoor and outdoor pollutant is detrimental to people’s health because people are exposed to the gas by breathing in the air from all areas. The article relates to the community level of the ecological model. In the article, the city installed carbon air filters and sealed the manhole covers as they continue to monitor the levels of sulfide in the air. This shows that the Plano officials are concerned about the effects of the hydrogen sulfide and the long-term effects it could have on people. The air can cause serious respiratory problems such as asthma and

In the article, “Is gentrification a problem”, speaks about the American ghetto and how changing neighborhoods can affect ethics and the economy. This article also speaks on the original meaning of the word “ghetto” and how it now comes into play with today’s new meaning of ghetto.