Stigma Damages In The Media

What is the role of the media in crime and victimization? Describe your views on the benefits, as well as the damages created by the media. Provide examples.

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

In the book, Sacrifice Zones, Steve Lerner takes readers through twelve separate stories of communities in the United States that have been unwillingly exposed to high levels of environmental toxicity. In each of these cases, citizens of those communities reacted to and pushed back against being exposed to toxic chemicals, sometimes successfully and sometimes less so. In every case, the people most heavily exposed to these health hazards were minorities and low-income citizens, which, Lerner argues, is why government officials and corporate decision-makers chose knowingly to risk exposing them. This paper will outline Lerner’s book and argue that despite a long history of protests, lawsuits, media attention and nationwide outrage, willing exposure of low-income and minority Americans to toxic chemicals in the pursuit of government and corporate interests is still a major problem today.

Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these

In the article “The Obligation to Endure” by Rachel Carson she explains the danger and harm that comes with using toxic chemicals such as pesticides on our crops. By doing so Carson brings to light that are numerous amounts of people that are un aware of the toxic chemicals that they are unknowingly inviting into their homes and bodies. This is also seen in “Preface” when author Carl G. Herndi  says, “Writers need to make the invisible visible” (xxiv). Furthermore, this can be seen as a wake up call to all humanity. Both Carson and Herndl want to inform people onto what is going on in the world we live in, and to get people to start questioning rather harmful toxics are truly needed, and if so to what extreme.

The article from the Huffington Post entitled Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia: Home to the most brazen, deadly corporate gambits in U.S. history describes the atrocities performed in part by the DuPont chemical plant in West Virginia. The plant was dispersing its hazardous chemicals into the streams and landfills. The hazardous chemical known as C8 was causing extreme health effects to the local residents of the town of Parkersburg. People were getting severely ill and people’s cattle were dying faster than they could be replaced. Yes, these acts were heinous, but the worst of it all was the fact that the company had so much control of the area that they were able to keep doing what they were doing and only face minor penalties if any…sickening. So basically the lesson here is, if you have money and the resources, you can control just about anything. DuPont had both, and that is why they were able to do what they did. C8, or Perfluorooctanoic acid was the chemical that was causing the massive health issues across the state. People were wanting to sue DuPont for the takeoff of C8 being into the water that they were partaking in.

In the beginning of this essay I would like to present some facts and figures related to our topic. On December 3, 1984, at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India there was a deadly leak of methyl isocyanate. It caused thousands of people to die and affected generations to come. The leak happened due to a series of human and mechanical failures. The local health officials were neither knowledgeable about the deadly chemical that was being stored there nor were they equipped to handle the tragedy. Another incident happened at the Union Carbide plant in West Virginia. A toxic cloud of the same chemical was leaked into the atmosphere and it was a shocking reminder that such accidents could happen in the both developed and developing countries. The statistics prove that chemical spills occur on a regular basis in different parts of the world. In 1976 there were

Accordingly, since Clendenin Bros., the policy language has been broadened—seemingly in response to Clendenin Bros. and similar cases—to include not only environmental pollution, but also, substances that are “harmful or toxic to persons [or] property.” The significance of this distinction was recognized in Clipper Mill Fed., LLC v. Cincinnati Ins. Co, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112172 (D.Md. 2010), where a landlord/insured alleged that damages caused by “[t]oxic and dangerous airborne pollutants” attributable to a malfunctioning HVAC unit gave rise to a claim against the insured by a tenant. Id. at 3. In that case, although the pollution at issue was not “environmental,” the District of Maryland observed that:

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

This problems happen everywhere around the world.”In polk county's mulberry the state installed its first hazardous waste injection well in a mostly black area”.This example is telling us they had a of poison that’s killing the african american.The next example is “But almost ⅓ of the minority population to southern california was located in the areas with the highest cancer risk,whereas 15% of the white population lived in such areas”.This telling us the risks that happen due to toxic air pollutants.For instance,”school,parks and a swimming pool within a mile of the refinery”.It's explaining to us that racism happens everywhere and even if it's not suppose to happen in this places but it does.

Many have begun to get the notion that the media decides who or what areas/ subjects are important enough to receive national attention. Bullard said, “Embrace the principle that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of the environmental and public health laws and regulations” (Moore, Lanthorn, 2017. Pg. 1) In the 1980’s a civil rights group protested against the government of North Carolina because they were going to throw polychlorinated biphenyls in a landfill close to where they lived. (Moore, Lanthorn, 2017. Pg. 9) Heinz (2005) argues that in numerous amounts of cases previous environmental issues do not get enough media coverage unless it threatens a predominantly white

Risk regulation and Superfund decision-making play an important role since they affect the potential exposure of residents to the contaminant. Superfund risk assessments determine how threatening a hazardous waste site is to human health and environment. Risk Assessors seek to determine a safe level for each potentially dangerous contaminant present. But there’s a potential biases in response to risk perception in regulators decisions. If decision makers at Superfund sites targeted for cleanups were concerned solely with social welfare maximization, then these regulators would choose target risks for cleanups based on factors

Through the years, courts are starting to recognize the idea of stigma damages. Stigma damages are defined as damages granted to property owners for their fears of contaminated property and the fear that their property is less valuable after contamination despite complete restoration. These recoveries are usually based on the public’s perception, which are usually negative. The property owners have these fears that the public will view their property negatively because of the contamination that occurred on to their property. Stigma can also be triggered by actual risks or fear. But in most cases, they are usually perceived by the owners. Types of fears and risks deal with public liability, fear that there will be additional health hazards and in general, fear of something that is not known to occur. Overall, stigma is based on perception by property owners

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

he United States has claimed for years to be a melting pot, where race or various preferences do not define our role in society. Most everyday people do not even realize or notice the amount of stereotyping that occurs in mass media. It is important to understand the different types of discrimination marginalized groups face. Stereotypes can affect everyone, whether it is based on their race, gender, or sexual preference. Media makers could easily find ways to not discriminate against people, but perhaps this would make that specific media outlet less popularly attended to.