NAACP Press Release Analysis

Burns, Shirley Stewart. Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2007. Print.

On November 10, 2017, the National Black Pre-Law Conference will host a one-day networking and empowerment event at the New York University School of Law. The conference is a premier event that focuses on African-Americans who are interested in becoming future lawyers. The activity will provide aspiring lawyers with information, connection, resources, and support to help them in their decision on joining the legal profession.

“In the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place” (Warren, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka). This famous saying in 1954 marked the new generation of equality for African Americans that suffered from all mob brutality, mass murders and segregation. Brown’s conclusion reached by the Board of Education of Topeka proved the solid dedication of NAACP that had fought for civil rights since 1909. As fifty years had gone by since the organization was formed, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had overpassed their goal and contributed greatly throughout America with sweat and tears.

A documentary called "From the Ashes" speaks about the employees, and communities that are supported by coal mines. In the documentary the director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, Mary Anne Hitt, goes on to describe a "life and death struggle" when mine layoffs occur. This means that the employees will lose their pensions, healthcare, and basically their livelihood. It was believed that the increase of miner layoffs was due to environmental regulations, but that was proven incorrect by the US Energy and Information Administration. One of the leading causes is the increased use of natural gases, and a statistical analysis over a 6 year time period proves that when natural gas usage increases, then coal usage

The African American community, in contrast to the rest of Norco and Louisiana, is historically afflicted with higher rates of cancer and asthma related deaths (Margie 01:19:29:20 ), and more prone to birth defects (Wilma Subra 01:18:09:03 ). Closely related and contrastingly to this, the white community of Norco tends to have longer lifespans, and are apparently less affected by cancer and asthma (Sal 01:21:11:29 ). The film directly compares these two perspectives, layering them side by side chronologically. The film uses this comparison as evidence that the African American community’s close proximity to the Shell refinery is an environmental determinant to health. Furthermore, that geographic location and environment are factors directly affecting health.

Are you for coal or against coal? Maybe better yet, are you for the preservation of the mountains and nature or are you against it? These questions held such a deep meaning and understanding that on the surface seemed immaterial to large corporations such as the Coal Mining Industry or political leaders within the State of West Virginia. Combating Mountaintop Removal by Bryan McNeil gives us the views of what it looks like from a grassroots environmental activist within the West Virginia coal country. In the book you see how the social and moral arguments are framed from different agents such as the Ant-MTRM (Mountain top removal) organization, the Coal Miners and Union works, to the Coal Mining Companies, and finally the State through political

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

The black lung movement was a movement formed in the late 1960’s in which the miners fought for the health benefits to cover black lung disease. Black lung is directly caused by mining and working with coal. Mildred Mullins wrote this poem and hung it on the coffin of her dead husband in the Capital to display what was going on, “Compensation we are asking,
While alive and still gasping;
When life is o’er and hymns are sung,
Then they’ll know we have black lung.( “Charleston Gazette” 15)” The miners felt that since their job caused this disease that they should be compensated for it. The coal companies felt that mining did not cause this lung disease and that the miners were just making it up.

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

The Racial Justice Act of 2009 was a piece of legislature in North Carolina that barred the death penalty for offenders based on race. This act determined the kind of evidence that could be used by the court or if race played a part in jury selection. They would determine if the evidence presented was a factor of imposing the death penalty in a case based on a person’s race. This allowed the defendant to establish that race was an actual factor in deciding to seek or impose the death penalty. If it was determined that face played an important role in deciding the death penalty, the sentence would automatically be converted to life imprisonment for the defendant.

“The NAACP and its allies released a research report titled Coal Blooded: Profit before people.” This report tells how coal pollution impacts low income and the colored community’s the most. Cold blooded uses demographic factors to show proof that the coal pollution impacts the low income and colored community the most. Coal blooded states “that coal pollution is literally killing low-income communities and colored communities.” Coal blooded also states that emissions controls are not sufficient “Coal blood has laid the frame work for individuals, organizations and policymakers to make a transition from coal to other energy sources.” We need to replace coal with clean energy alternatives. This report shows how harmful coal plants are to the

Environmental Injustice alludes to socially minimized racial minority groups which are subjected to lopsided presentation of contaminations, the forswearing of access to wellsprings of biological advantages, (for example, clean air, water, and characteristic assets), or both. Studies that date back to the 1970s have indicated a reliable example in who lives close to the sorts of dangers: dangerous waste locales, landfills, and congested thruways. The constant answer: destitute individuals and groups of shading. This example of "ecological bad form" recommends that minorities may battle each day with unbalanced wellbeing dangers from tailpipe fumes or coal plant outflows. Be that as it may, these wellbeing dangers are harder to measure than say, the quantity of energy plants in a city. Also, the greater part of the exploration that has attempted to do this has been compelled to a singular metropolitan locale, or to those few places that happen to have extraordinary checking data on sullying. The Dark Administration Discussion goes about as a clearinghouse for national African American pioneers. The DAD unites Dark pioneers to ponder issues of the most profound, centrality to African Americans especially social equality and real open approach issues. Since the late spring of 2000, DAD has included Environmental Change as a critical strategy issue of worry to the African American authority.

Hazards and pollutants are apparent in a variety of outcomes. Possible outcomes include asthma, cancer and chemical poisoning (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Furthermore, “Although debated, the main hypothesis explaining these disparities is that disadvantaged communities encounter greater exposure to environmental toxins such as air pollution, pesticides, and lead” (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Therefore, disadvantaged groups, such as people of color and the poor, experience greater environmental risks. Additionally, “Blacks in particular are exposed to a disproportionate amount of pollution and suffer the highest levels of lead and pesticide poisoning and other associated health problems” (Jones and Rainey 2006: 474). People of color, essentially, compete to live healthily. For example, African-Americans and Africans alike, struggle with the negative affects of oil refineries and unresponsive governments. The same can be said for Hispanics in California and the natives of Ecuador, who are forced to cope with the pollution of the Texaco oil refineries (Bullard 2001: 4). Environmental racism not only exploits natural resources, it abuses and profits from the communities involved. Governments and polluting facilities will continue to capitalize on the economic susceptibilities of poor communities, states, nations and regions for their “unsound” and hazardous operations (Bullard 2001: 23).

The placement of companies deleterious to the environment and well-being of humans is something that prosperous communities are not quite familiar with; in contrast, it is something well-known to less affluent communities. The imbalance of classification shows a lack of environmental justice in low-income and minority communities. According to the EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, “environmental justice is the fair treatment… of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies,” (EPA, n.d.). However, the environmental justice, the EPA mentions is not prevalent in communities of color, but rather its counterpart is: environmental injustice. Environmental injustice, or environmental racism, being the excessive placing of perilous waste and contaminating polluters near communities of color (Cha, 2016). Although often overlooked, environmental racism is an extensive problem that negatively affects minority communities in Southeast Los Angeles.

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