https://time.com/5864704/environmental-racism-climate-change/
Where you live has much larger implications in the United States than most realize. Your home, where you grow up, has influences on your opportunities, education, and one that most people forget, your physical health and wellbeing. The environment you live in can have major influence over your health and lifespan. This is why I think it is very important to discuss and educate others on the subject of environmental racism and climate justice. Some communities in the United States are living in inhumane environments due to the failings of our government and long ingrained systemic injustice that is still harming communities across the country today.
Environmental racism is the policies and practices that disproportionately harm the environments of minority communities or communities of color. The principle of environmental justice stems from the concept that all communities are entitled to equal protection, which includes living in communities free of pollution and health hazards. This means that these minority populations have the ability to be in the room or have a seat at the table when decisions that impact the environment of their communities, for example, and all white city board cannot singlehandedly decide to put a new landfill in a predominantly black city. People in these minority communities should be able to make decisions that protect themselves. In the United States, pollution is segregated. There are many examples of this, from toxic water to environmental disasters that are more harmful to communities of color. When considering environmental racism, we must consider who is the most vulnerable and who are the people living in communities that climate change and pollution are most going to impact.
Unfortunately, zip code is a significant determining factor as to whether a population will endure environmental racism. One prominent example of this is Detroit, Michigan. Detroit is 83% black, and is the most polluted zip code in Michigan. Michigan, as a whole, is only made up of 25% people of color, demonstrating that the pollution is disproportionately impacting communities of color. The pollution in Detroit has become a major civil rights issue, with the mostly black residents experiencing health problems such as asthma as a result of irresponsible industrial plants polluting their communities. Of the eight facilities in Michigan that accept hazardous waste, seven of them are located in predominantly black lower income communities in Detroit. As a result, these black communities are suffering due to decisions that they have not made, and frequently are unable to escape due to financial factors. Michigan imports the most amount of hazardous waste of any state, and of the imported waste, 94% of it went to Wayne County, which has the largest population of people of color than any county in the state. It is clear that although the United States claims that there is laws and regulations under the EPA to prevent environmental racism and protect communities of color, Detroit and its predominantly black residents are suffering as a result of environmental racism and lack of justice provided by the supposed safeguards in place.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/books/review/mona-hanna-attisha-what-the-eyes-dont-see-anna-clark-poisoned-city.html?auth=login-google
Another publicized case of environmental racism in Michigan is the Flint water crisis. Flint is composed of majority black residents, and the water supply was poisoned with lead for months while ignored by the city, and years without proper treatment. The water supply was changed to save the city money, however improper treatment caused poisonous and toxic lead to seep into the community’s water supply which, in turn, poisoned the residents of Flint. To make matters worse, when the issue was brought up to the city about residents getting sick from the discolored water, the response was underwhelming and pathetic considering what was warranted as thousands of residents were endangered by the city’s recklessness. There was an entire city becoming ill because the city had made a mistake. The water contamination and resulting health ailments that ensued were minimized by the government when residents were bringing their concerns about the water to them, and it took the government much longer than it ever should have to respond appropriately to a hazard of this magnitude. As a result, residents in their children were left with life-long implications on their health, including organ damage, hair loss, impaired brain function. This is a very well-known instance of environmental injustice, as thousands of minority residents in Flint were denied access to clean and safe water in their community.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisana-reserve-special-report
An 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, which contains 150 chemical plants and oil refineries, has been named “Cancer Alley” because of the extremely high incidence of cancer cases near the industrial plants. Louisiana is known to be the most polluted, toxic air in the United States, and this particular stretch is the worst in the state and country. On top of the very prevalent incidence of cancer, toxic pollution in the air also causes lung issues and heart problems. This stretch, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, is known to have the highest cancer risk in the United States. A community in Cancer Alley called Reserve is known to have a risk of cancer that is fifty times that of the national average. Chemical plants that have been built on old plantations are plaguing the predominantly black, working class communities of Cancer Alley, and setting them up for lifetimes of health conditions and potentially fatal cancer. In addition, this area is predominantly black and low income. There have been entire families that have been killed by cancer and other ailments which the industrial plants’ pollution has caused. These industrial pollutants have been allowed to be released by the government into these communities and within miles of elementary and high schools, exposing children to the known toxins. Even though there are already 150 plants along this stretch, they are not done being built. There has been more land sold to the massive corporations that have plans to open more plastic factories or oil refineries. Some of these families do not have the financial means to leave, and others stay because their family history goes back many generations in the communities in Cancer Alley. The families here consider Cancer Alley home, and are advocating and fighting for change in legislation to protect their communities and demand equal protection for climate justice.
A very relevant concern falling under environmental racism and justice is climate change, because environmental disasters are more harmful to communities of color. We have discussed and outlined some instances of American cities where pollution is harming people of color in particular, but what about impacts of climate change on communities of color? For example, flooding and hurricanes that result from climate change have long-term impacts on communities of color and low-income communities. One of the most shocking examples of this occurring was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, particularly in Louisiana. Over one million Louisiana residents were displaced after the devastating hurricane, 75% of which were black, and one third of which were poor. The recovery of the communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina were even more shocking— after ten years, in the predominantly black neighborhood of New Orleans, only 37% of the population had returned. There is a clear split between the rich, often white, residents that are able to escape natural disasters, and rebuild quickly afterward; and the poor, mostly black and communities of color, that do not have the option to leave when a disaster strikes nor the financial means to rebuild following disasters. Another example of an environmental disaster that disproportionately impacted communities of color and lower-income communities was Hurricane Harvey in 2017 in Texas. On the Texas coast, there are many communities of color and low-income communities that have long faced environmental racism through excessive pollution. During the time following the hurricane, the factories released even more toxic pollutants into the already vulnerable areas that were trying to recover from the disaster. Similarly to Hurricane Katrina, these communities were given less federal money to rebuild and took much longer to recover than the white and affluent parts of Texas impacted.
It would be remiss not to address the intersectionality of environmental racism and climate justice. Not only are cities like Detroit, Flint and the region in Cancer Alley predominantly minority communities, but they are also mostly low-income communities. There is segregation both by race and class in the United States when it comes to environmental justice or the lack thereof. Communities of color are more likely to face environmental injustices than white communities, just as lower class or lower income communities are more likely than high income communities to face environmental injustices. There is an intersectional aspect here, where low income communities of color are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to receiving environmental justice. However, according to Robert Bullard, a sociologist who has been dubbed the “father of environmental justice”, racism trumps classism when it comes to environmental injustices, as middle class black communities are more likely to face environmental injustices than poor white communities. The issue of environmental racism needs to be confronted by our government and put an end to in order to protect communities of color.
Sources:
https://time.com/5864704/environmental-racism-climate-change/
https://www.spglawfirm.com/news/perfect-storm-environmental-inequality/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/us/a-question-of-environmental-racism-in-flint.html