In the modern twenty-first century, there are many parts of society that are overlooked. Those that live in the higher rungs of the social order often live in the comfort of others. This phenomenon is known as environmental racism, which can be defined as any environmental policy, practice, or directive that disproportionately disadvantages nonwhite communities (Desmond and Emirbayer: 196). However, these policies can discriminate against poor whites as well since environmental racism categorically attacks communities that are less economically advantaged and live in poorer neighborhoods. Through environmental racism, the rich profit and the poor suffer, and this is done many times at the cost of people’s lives as seen in the case of Native …show more content…
People of varying communities are affected by environmental racism differently. For example, for the Native Americans living on the Skull Valley Reservation in Utah, the largest threat to the population is environmental racism. Frequently, tribal lands are seized or bought from leaders and used as nerve-gas incinerators, toxic-waste landfills, and radioactive dump sites, while residents are exposed to large amounts of harmful substances in the air and water. As a result, Native Americans are at high risk of contracting lung diseases and cancer. According to statistics, residents on these reservations are 2.8 times more likely to die of diabetes, and infant mortality rates are 1.2 times the national average (Desmond and Emirbayer: 196). However, environmental racism is not exclusive to only Native Americans. Rural black communities in the deep south and poor whites in Kentucky and Virginia have faced similar treatment as well. In fact, the Lower Mississippi River Industrial Corridor has been labeled ‘Cancer Alley’ due to the high carcinogen levels in the area. The government failed to protect these people, and in fact gave tax exemptions to the polluting companies, which heightened the number of factories. The increased number of pollution in the area has adversely affected …show more content…
While groups such as Native Americans and Chester City residents suffer the imminent health effects of environmental racism, waste plants and the average American benefit from it. As shown through my personal life, the absence of a waste dump or manufacturing company in my predominantly-white neighborhood reveals the discrepancies between various races, as well as the effects socioeconomic standing can have on the degree people are impacted by environmental racism. Through this analysis, it is the goal that people now view their neighborhoods in a new light, and utilize the social scientific imagination to see that there is always an underlying cause in present social
Nydia Velazquez is a representative for New York’s Twelfth Congressional District, which includes parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. In her essay “In Search of Justice,” Velazquez describes several unjust situations that happened in her district. She points out that the residents of Greenpoint, which is the heart of her district, are among the poorest in the country. She argues that large corporations carelessly dump their waste next to poor minorities’ living areas and emphasizes the terrible air conditions in her district. Velazquez believes that minority communities are treated unfairly under the environmental law, which targets large corporations.
In the level of institutionalized racism, it is what all community organizers strive to overcome. This form of racism entails the power and access to materials that everyone should be able to obtain. When there is racism involved, there is a level of differentiation in the access that each race is entitled to. For example, Blacks have less access to nutritional food and health care when the live in an urban residential area. These inequities are the result of an institutionalized difference between racial groups and it may lead to health disparities. Dr. Jones believes that the root of association between socioeconomic status and race in the United States is in direct correlation to this form of racism.
West Virginia and Kentucky have been faced with a rise in health-related issues, leading the nation in cancer-related deaths. Many of those cases have been said to be caused from greater exposer to pollution from coal-mining activity, which is said to increase your chances for cancer along with other fatal diseases. The Appalachia area has seen a rise in mortality rates, over 60,000 cases of those being cancer-related deaths directly linked to mountaintop removal practices. Mountaintop removal has been deemed as cleaner and safer than men going below ground to mine for coal, but with Appalachian communities- primarily in West Virginia, Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia seeing a high rise in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and birth defects rates, mountaintop removal has been looked at as one of the main causes.
In summary, I will explore viewpoints on how race influences environmental decision-making, from a variety of perspectives: International sustainable development groups, national legislatures, and minority groups by interviews with representatives at each level.
Housing segregation is as the taken for granted to any feature of urban life in the United States (Squires, Friedman, & Siadat, 2001). It is the application of denying minority groups, especially African Americans, equal access to housing through misinterpretation, which denies people of color finance services and opportunities to afford decent housing. Caucasians usually live in areas that are mostly white communities. However, African Americans are most likely lives in areas that are racially combines with African Americans and Hispanics. A miscommunication of property owners not giving African American groups gives an accurate description of available housing for a decent area. This book focuses on various concepts that relates to housing segregation and minority groups living apart for the majority group.
Drugs and Alcohol Environmental justice has to happen all around the world, because Environmental justice is the justice of the environment that you live in, and these environments aren't in good conditions. This justice is so that everyone can live in an environment that isn't bad for one's health. This justice has to do with environmental racism because it isn't fair to blame certain people. For example, the people of color are more likely to live in a polluted area than a person who is white. This is racist because the people of color are put in a bad area just because they are of color.
One of such being the topic of environmental racism. A sometimes muddled phrase, environmental racism refers to policies and practices that discriminate against people of color (AJ+). A phenomenon evolved from colonialism, environmental racism promotes the reality that our planet and its inhabitants are disposable to the protection of the elite. An obvious example being the constant relocation of indigenous peoples in the American continent. Growing up hearing tales of my grandmother’s life on the Rosebud Lakota tribal lands of South Dakota, I have been instilled from a young age with a deep respect and understanding for the sacred bond between a tribe and its land. This precious land constantly suffers use and abuse by government and private institutions. If one attempts to climb the Vatican or even the Salt Lake City temple, law enforcement swiftly intervenes, yet tourists and outdoorsmen explore sacred lands of the indigenous natives every day of the summer for profit. That profit, monetary gain controls the actions of those with the power to protect communities of color. The pursuit of profit snuffs the importance of protecting equality in our capitalist driven country. The prospect of gaining revenue and resources seems to justify the uprooting or infecting of populations. Just last year, despite heavy pushback from the Sioux, my ancestral nation, the Dakota Access Pipeline runs just a half mile
Shriver, Thomas, and Gary Webb. “Rethinking the Scope of Environmental Injustice: Perceptions of Health Hazards in Rural Native American Community Exposed to Carbon Black.” Rural Sociology 74.2 (2009): 270-292. EBSCO Host. Web. 12 December, 2009.
In relation to the Critical Race Theory, the idea of the “gap between law, politics, economics, and sociological reality of racialized lives” (Critical Race Theory slides). The critical race theory gives us a guide to analyze privileges and hardships that comes across different races and gender. For example, analyzing how and why a “black” or “indigenous” woman may experience more hardships versus not only a “white” man, but a “white”
Racial Inequality is a topic in America that many people believe still exists, and many believe it’s simply an over-dramatized topic. Tim Wise, a notable person in the political world, gave a speech on his thoughts on racial inequality at Bloomsburg University (Wise, 2016). I strongly disagreed with the ideas he tried presenting to us students at Bloomsburg University. However, I kept an open mind despite feeling disturbed by his thoughts, and came out with new knowledge on the topic of racial inequality.
Racism is commonly thought of as an act that is synonymous with violence; however, one common form of racism, environmental racism, often takes place without people being aware the events are happening before detrimental activities have been put into action. In Melissa Checker’s book Polluted Promises, she relates that Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. coined the term environmental racism while stating that there is “deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste disposal and the siting of polluting industries” (Checker 14). This problem is important to discuss, as many groups of people around the United States continue to be impacted by these events every day. Such people include
In the United States and internationally, there is a multitude of indicators that the racial environment is changing. Environmental pollution and racism are connected in more ways than one. The world is unconsciously aware of environmental intolerances, yet continues to expose the poor and minorities to physical hazards. Furthermore, sociologist continue to study “whether racial disparities are largely a function of socioeconomic disparities or whether other factors associated with race are also related to the distribution of environmental hazards” (Mohai and Saha 2007: 345). Many of these factors include economic positions, health disparities, social and political affairs, as well as racial inequalities.
In Pensacola, a superfund site abuts a play area where most of the children are black. Toxic chemicals produced throughout the world are found in extremely high levels in Inuit people’s bodies and in women’s breast milk.
Racism is still a very prominent yet controversial topic in the United States today. Discrimination in the United States dates back to the 1500s when America was first founded. As generations passed, it has become a social norm to believe that darker skin tones are less desirable to society. The foundation of this country was built upon the false impression that Whites were superior to not just blacks, but all other ethnicities. From this, the idea of white privilege was derived and is still prevalent in society today. Those who are victims of discrimination are sometimes not aware of the psychological effect and the overall impact it can have on one’s life. The persistence of racism over generations has been in correlation to adversely affect the mental health of the victims economically, socially and in turn physically.
Racism and ethnicity continue to affect the sector of education in most parts of the world. More often, it influences adults and children’s experiences in education at all levels and in various ways. These include professional employment, academic performance, parental involvement, social interactions, assessment issues, and curriculum development. Certainly, the terms racism and ethnicity identify as problematic and arise socially. Therefore, many people fail to recognize that racism is a perception about the color of the skin and traditions of a particular group of people. Racism and ethnicity exist in quite blatant and subtle forms. As such, racism and ethnicity usually lead to negative consequences for the group that does not belong to the dominant culture. The contemporary racism originated from various avenues, one of it being the society norms and upbringing. Indeed, as children grow, they exclusively rely on their parents or guardians to learn new things. Moreover, part of the upbringing involves teaching the children things about the society and the