preview

Environmental Racism In The United States

Decent Essays

Many minorities’ communities and low income communities in the United States have an unequal distribution of toxic contamination, either by the release of hazardous chemicals on their neighborhood or by allocating waste management facilities. This is an outcome that the landmark 1987 United Church of Christ (UCC) report on toxic waste and race claimed was not the result of mere coincidence. Evidence of disproportionate economic impact from environmental mismanagement, as well as through the regulatory response to air pollution, was already considered a decade earlier by geographers and economists, though without the suggestion of discriminatory intent (e.g., Berry, et. al., 1977; and Harrison, 1975). Ultimately, the conclusion was that race …show more content…

Benjamin Chavis Jr., the commission's director, stated simply that "race is a major factor related to the presence of hazardous wastes in residential communities throughout the United States" and a new field of study was born. Environmental racism is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on communities of color and/or low socio-economic status. An unequal distribution of environmental hazardous substances. Environmental racism also can be explained as an “impersonal” form of racism perpetrated mainly by business, political groups and/or government. Environmental hazardous industries are more likely to stablish in African American and low income communities. Environmental racism doesn’t have to be intentional to be discriminatory. For example the Exxon Valdez accident, an oil tanker transporting millions of gallons of crude oil from Alaska to Long Beach, spilled 11 million of crude oil. The oil spill caused destruction to the coast of Prince William Sound Alaska, affecting directly the ecosystem of the region. This incident happened along the coast of Alaska and was the worst that had occurred up to that point in American history, damaging more than 1,300 miles of shoreline, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of people in the region and killing hundreds …show more content…

SIDS spontaneously occurs to an infant where they stop breathing leading to death. After adjustment for demographic and other factors and for other pollutants, it was found that 47% increase in (Cl) Chlorine for respiratory causes and 56% increase in (Cl) Chlorine towards the ozone and infantile deaths. Research has shown that the neighborhood-level socioeconomic status that you are born into heavily influences the individual level exposure to hazardous materials and air pollution. This study provides further support for Particle Matter (PM) air pollution as a risk factor for respiratory-related post neonatal infant mortality and suggests that pollution chemicals such as carbon monoxide may play a role in SIDS. In general, persons with lower socio-economic status (SES) had higher estimated exposures, based on indicators of education, unemployment, poverty, and

Get Access