The topic of environmental racism was first introduced to me during an Ethnic Lecture Series at UW-Parkside in 2013. Environmental racism is the placement of low-income or minority communities that are affected by hazardous chemicals. Furthermore, people of color are more likely to reside in areas with increased exposure to air, water, and land pollution, hazardous waste treatment facilities, pesticide and chemical exposure, and geographic or residential isolation. I found it very troubling how often this is occurring in the United States. Social justice needs to be available for people living in areas where environmental racism affects their community. The United States needs to make changes in order to protect communities that are being negatively impacted by environmental racism. Environmental racism can be significantly decreased if there is an elimination of residential segregation, structural racism, and installation of regulations.
There is a direct correlation with hazardous waste land and ethnic communities. Environmental racism has multiple causes that are responsible for its creation. It first began through direct racism, which was the foundation for racist policies. Eventually, this is what created all white communities, because there was a push to keep minority groups out of sight and out of mind. This is what is described as residential segregation. Minority groups were forced into unfavorable areas where no one else wanted to reside. And this is still being continued today. It began with laws from our government that have made the battle against environmental racism even more difficult. As the United States admitted in its 2000 Periodic Report, “For many years, the federal government itself was responsible for pro...
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"Initial Report of the United States of America to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination." The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. New York City. Sept. 2000. U.S. Human Rights Network. Web. .
Mayer, Seth. "Environmental Racism: A Chicago Case Study." Ethic Lecture
Series. University of Wisconsin Parkside, Kenosha, WI. Nov. 2013. Speech.
Northridge, Mary E., and Peggy M. Shepard. "Comment: Environmental Racism and Public Health." American Journal of Public Health May 1997: 730+. Business Source Premier. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Waldron-Moore, Pamela, et al. "A Question Of Social Justice: The Case Of
Louisiana Communities And Their Struggle For Environmental Sustainability." Race, Gender & Class 14.3/4 (2007): 154-175. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Donald Worster introduces a framework for analyzing environmental history along the three dimensions of culture, social organization, and nature, which can be used to investigate how the ‘levees only’ approach to managing the waters of the Mississippi River set the scene for the disastrous effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana (4-5). The ‘levees only’ approach grew from and promoted certain cultural, social, and natural conditions in New Orleans, and each of these elements critically interacted to contribute to the human and environmental destruction unleashed by Katrina. Cultural, social, and natural elements of Worster’s framework individually shaped the essential preconditions of the Katrina disaster. Culturally, New Orleans’s
The United Nations (UN) celebrates International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21 each year. The topic is covered by Richard Wagamese in his novel Keeper n’ me. The three
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.
Journal of Public Health. Vol. 70, No. 4, Apr. 1980, pp. 348-351. EBSCOhost. 2017 October 25.
In the United States, racial discrimination has a lengthy history, dating back to the biblical period. Racial discrimination is a term used to characterize disruptive or discriminatory behaviors afflicted on a person because of his or her ethnic background. In other words, every t...
Native Americans have suffered from one of America’s most profound ironies. The American Indians that held the lands of the Western Hemisphere for thousands of years have fallen victim to some of the worst environmental pollution. The degradation of their surrounding lands has either pushed them out of their homes, made their people sick, or more susceptible to disease. If toxic waste is being strategically placed near homes of Native Americans and other minority groups, then the government industry and military are committing a direct offense against environmental justice. Productions of capitalism and militarism are deteriorating the lands of American Indians and this ultimately is environmental racism.
Fear is the fundamental basis for racial thought. ‘’Racism consists of ideologies and practices that seek to justify or cause the unequal distribution of privileges or rights among different racial groups.’’(www.soundvison.com). This fundamental flaw of fear in human nature has manifested itself in a historical context, in local and global connections with environmental consequences and could have disastrous ramifications for human kind without transformation.
In today’s age it can be difficult for many to imagine a world in which applicants were denied employment for factors such as their gender, race, religion or national origin. We have grown accustomed to living in a country that provides legislative protection in the case of discrimination in and outside the workforce. Yet, this was not always the case. It has been a mere 52 years since the illegalization of “discrimination in education, employment, public accommodations and the receipt of federal funds on the basis on race, color, gender, national origin and religion.”(BL pg.98) This new set of legislation is known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although it did not make amends for year of abuse and discrimination,
The people who face discrimination become bitter, and angry which leads to fights, riots, sometimes even shootings witch is creating an unsafe and negative environments. People make movements to help end and aware the people the effects it has on them. According to Liza Lugo “When the seeds of hatred and ethnocentrism are planted and fostered in society, it negatively affects every area of life.” Racism creates a negative and unsafe feeling environment for the people which causes environmental issues.
It wasn’t until a study called Toxic Waste and Race done by the Church of Christ in 1987 showed that the most significant factor is deciding a location of a hazardous waste facility was racial did the movement gain momentum. While there are many debate on what environmental justice is, most would say the first significant documentation of it was when the Principles of Environmental Justice was written, signed, and sent to DC to be reviewed in the 1990’s. Various community leaders from churches to council members to school teachers came together at the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit and made a point in showing that the citizens are not happy with how their environment has been handled and the ideals that legislation has come to fruition under. Ideals such as fairness when making policy, responsible use of renewable resources, balanced relations with native americans, use of military force on peoples, and mitigation for victims domestically and abroad are only a few controversial topics they
These environmental concerns tie in greatly with the cultural and racial clash of the twenty first century. As people continue to migrate from areas that can no longer support the growing population you have ...
Abstract- Racial discrimination happens all the time and most of us are unaware of it. The most common place for this to happen is in the workplace. Now people can be discriminated against because of their race, religion, or any other numerous things. Also, discrimination can occur during the job interview or even after you got the job. This paper will shoe the effects of racial discrimination and how it can be prevented. In addition there are some very important laws that deal specifically with discrimination, like the NAACP or Affirmative Action. These both will be discussed.
American Journal Of Public Health103.1 (2013): 27-31. Business Source Premier.
Gender and the environment don’t sound like two things that would be well together. Surprisingly they do very well, starting with the article, “Gender and Place: Women and Environmentalism” written by Gottlieb we find out that it took women years for them to be recognized as main workers in the work place as well as major forces who fought for the environment. An example would be Cora Tucker, a huge activist who unfortunately found out, “…that environmental issues were white issues.” (Gottlieb 276). This is extremely wrong because every race has a voice about the environment. She goes on to saying that those in power who try to change small communities have no business doing it themselves because they have no idea what the people are going
As stated before, racism has been a major contentious issue in the United States of America. Before the abolition of slavery in the country in the mid 20th century, racism was socially and even legally sanctioned in the country. The rights that were denied to those affected by racism such as African Americans, Native Americans, Latin Americans, and Asian Americans, among others, were enjoyed...