Environmental Racism In America

Firstly, environmental racism is referring effect on industrial pollution on lower income group and working community with color. Environmental racism brings social inequality to the minority people, excludes them from the community and any exclusion is an act of racism (Pulido, 2010, p.538). Moreover, environmental racism can be most detrimental to the specific group of people. The harmfulness of environmental racism exists in the relationship between community residents and environment. In the case of water crisis in Flint, the serious situation is caused by industry pollution and government inaction. The emergency manager aimed to save five million, changed the extracted water from Detroit system to Flint river (Ruth, 2017). Flint car brand general motor poured out the industrial toxic rubbish into flint river. Furthermore, Flint river used half a century sematic system. It means the water sources from the Flint river is not safe. Therefore, Government add the chlorine gas in Flint river to eliminate water bacteria. The new chemical byproduct THEM caused deadly outbreak. The Flint government did not handle urban metabolism well. On the one hand, the vehicle company pour the rubbish to the river and damage the natural environment. On the other hand, Lead poisoned water harm to people’s health. Local residence drink poisoned water will feel bone pain, muscle pain and fatigue. Moreover, children drink poisoned water will permanent damage intelligence and immune system (Ruth, 2017). Children always get sick and cannot go to school normally. Since Local residence does not have clean water to drink, and severely affecting their normal life. On the one hand, scale is the important tool to analyze the environmental racism. In 2000, Pulido demonstrates that Environmental racism should concern the various scale in “the

Environmental Racism can be described as, the intentional or unintentional placement of hazardous waste sites, landfills, or industries that are polluting communities mainly those inhabited by African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and Asians, as well as the working poor. In the broadest sense, Environmental Racism, is a process where environmental decisions, actions, and policies results in racial discrimination. Environmental racism is important to know about because it effects almost every low-income or impoverished area across the world. Some notable areas that are dealing with environmental racism are: Flint Michigan-where thousands of residents have

Those who argue that environmental racism is a serious problem in America and the whole world, and their number are growing, are correct in at least one of their assertions. Racism exists. environmental problems exist. these facts, however, do not reveal whether or not environmental racism has occurred in any given instance. this might be an unimportant distinction but for the fact that some argue that civil right laws be applied to pollution events and related regulatory violations.

Environmental inequality, contrary to what we may imagine, is a social and political problem rather than a simple environmental problem. Environmental inequalities are deeply tangled with political, economic structures and institutions; adding more problems to the social inequalities that already affect our daily lives (Brehm, 2013). So, what exactly is environmental inequality? It refers to the fact that low-income people and people of color are disproportionately likely to experience various environmental problems by living in high risk and polluted areas. If we look at this problem closely we realize “that black, white, and Hispanic households with similar incomes live in neighborhoods of dissimilar environmental quality” (Downey, 2008) and that most people who suffer the consequences of living in neighborhoods with high hazard levels are racial minorities. This allows us to conclude that environmental inequality it is also linked to racism.

In the Brullard reading, Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty: 1987-2007, Brullard discusses racial and socioeconomic disparities in relation to environmental issues from 1987 to 2007. 1987 is significant because it is the year when a report about environmental racism entitled Toxic Wastes and Race was published. This report raised awareness about the idea of environmental injustice and spurred further research on the subject. In Chapter 3, Brullard outlines two different methods used in this research: analysis of census data and “distance-based” methods. Brullard explains that using different research methods leads to slightly varying results, but studies using both methods still show racial disparities in relation to environmental hazards. In Chapter 4, Brullard argues that these disparities still exist in 2007, and that they exist all over the United States. In Chapter 7, he provides a contemporary example: the Holt family. The Holt family’s well water was contaminated because it was located near a landfill. The government, while

Robert Bullard defines environmental racism as “any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color” (Bullard 98). Racism basically creates differences in environmental quality in white and black communities. Governmental policies and industry practices often provide benefits to the white communities while shifting environmental costs onto people of color.

The article on “NAACP Report Reveals Disparate Impact of Coal-Fired Power Plants” talks about how coal pollution from the coal-fired power plants will negatively impact the environment surrounding it, including the population in the surroundings, and the harm it will bring upon them. It suggests that Americans that reside near a coal power plant has a lower average income than most of the Americans in the nation. Furthermore, it also pointed out that 39% of Americans that live near a coal power plant are “people of color”. This article claim that coal pollution from the coal power plant is killing population that has a low income and people of certain races. According to the article, climate change is also a negative impact brought on by coal

When one discusses acts of racism, slander or the stereotyping of a group of people may come to mind. However, the concept of environmental racism is rarely considered. This form of racism positions dominant environmental framing as racially driven, in which people of color (i.e. minorities) are affected disproportionately by poor environmental practices. Communities of color throughout the United States have become the dumping grounds for our nation’s waste disposal, as well as home to agricultural and/or manufacturing industries that pollute the land. Government regulations and cultural practices have all contributed to environmental racism. The government’s policies have also negatively impacted low income groups as well as people of

Environmental racism is what comes to mind regarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan comes up. I believe that if the city wasn’t mostly black, the state of Michigan probably could’ve already solved the problem. Governments and company’s prey on groups that lack political clout and resources. In Flint, the inhabitants probably did not have a say in the switch of their water source. In Russia, the factory has preyed on the residents’ need for jobs and despite the adverse health and environmental effects, the residents choose to live there. When companies and governments prey on these population, the residents have three options; either be resilient and stay, leave the place, or try to change the problem.

Environmental racism raises a large concern in todays times because we are all support to be treated equal no matter what our heritages believe in. In the Title VI of the Civil Rights act of 1964, it clearly states that it prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activist receiving federal assistance. Environmental racism have many things in common to the civil right activities looking back on time. Like the Warren County example, the way the protest played out are very similar to the way protests acted out in that 1950’s. “The actions of the North Carolina state government in forcing a toxic landfill onto a small African-American community were an extension of the racism they had encountered for decades in housing, education and employment. But this time, it was environmental racism.

Julia Sze, author of “Race and Power: An Introduction to Environmental Justice Energy Activism,” purposed her article was to show how and why environmental justice and energy policy are connected (102). Sze started off by explaining how Americans consume huge amounts of energy. The case study is focused on New York City’s Communities United for Responsible Energy (CURE), which is an organization that focused on environmental justice in the energy realm for low-income and minority populations. These populations are effected by energy pollutants; in the study, Sze gave multiple examples of how populations are effected by energy plants. For instance, Sze explained how nuclear power plants represented a tremendous environmental injustice for Native

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.

The Environmental Justice Movement started when a group of minorities started to notice that their environmental protection was been violated. It was violated by hazards facilities that were been place in their communities. The groups of minorities consist of African-Americans, and Latinos. The environmental justice movement came up with the fact that people who live, work and play in America’s most polluted environment are most likely to be people of color and the low income. As the Natural Resources Defense Council mentioned, “The statistics provide clear evidence of what the movement rightly calls “environmental racism.” The communities of color and Latinos of low-income have been battling this environment injustice for decades. The Environmental

This can be shown in areas that are considered fenceline communities. These are communities that are located directly in the midst of toxic pollution. Residents who live in these communities often accept their conditions of their surroundings and wait for disasters to happen. These disasters include chemical spills or toxic contamination that can demolish their communities at some point. These individuals are also put at a higher risk for possible terrorist attacks. Moreover, residents who live nearby also suffer by having their wealth stolen through lowered property values. To show example, in 1992 the National Law Journal found discrepancies in the way the Environmental Protection Agency enforced its Superfund laws (Bullard & Wright 2012). In the same year Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality signed off on permits allowing Genesee Power Station to build an eighty million dollar incinerator for construction use. This incinerator was built beside a predominately black low income neighborhood (Burke 2017). The residents were forced to be exposed to particulate matter, carbon monoxide, lead, and acidic gases. Being within walking distance from a chemical site would eventually begin to affect their quality of life and health (National Research Council). If disasters are to take place they are often blamed on natural occurrences. This concept tends to be pushed by corporations who do not want to own up to

Let’s begin with a concrete definition of environmental racism. Environmental racism “…links racism with environmental actions, experiences, and outcomes. In the broadest sense, environmental racism and its corollary, environmental discrimination, is the process whereby environmental decisions, actions, and policies result in racial discrimination or the creation of racial advantages.” (Taylor, 2009) This definition explains how the direct outcome of these decisions makes it “racist” because of favourism or advantages that certain races or cultures receive over others. More specifically, it is the disadvantages that cultures, such as Nigerians or Indians receive because there are viewed as either less valuable or put at a lower ranking to the point where they do not deserve the same resources as white Americans might. We will have a look later into a case study where a specific group of African-American’s environment was indirectly tampered with and that resulted in polluted water. For now, we will continue to look at how environmental racism can present itself in our everyday lives. For indigenous people, they are stripped from their land and they are unable to rejuvenate the crops and seeds local to their environment. For example, farmers in the South are impacted the most by climate change and inclement weather, however any corporation can step in and take over their land. Farmers are deeply affected by climate change when there is no downpour, or similarly, when there is