Environmental racism for people of color
Environmental racism is a concept used to explain a failure to act by any government, institutional, or industry action. These actions affect, intentionally or unintentionally, Certain individuals, groups, or communities based on race or colour (week two notes). These environmental injustice occur around the United States and truly all around the world. Sad part, is that most of the individuals affected by environmental issues are people of color, says The Institute of Medicine. Furthermore, they have concluded, minority communities are two times more likely to fall ill to deadly sickness. This is due to the exposure to toxic chemicals produced by hazardous waste. The amount of environmental racism that Latinos have endured because of their economic status is extremely dejecting. It seems that if you don’t make enough money or don’t have the “preferred” color of skin, a hazardous waste facility might be a perfect location in your community. Big corporations use the “we create jobs for the poor” as an excuse to install their factories. However, they don’t fully explain the outcome that these toxic chemicals will have on the people living and working around these toxic monsters.
- What else is an injustice in certain communities?
Another example that I have close to home is the city of industries in Los Angeles. There are a ton of companies that pollute tons and tons of toxins into the air daily around schools and peoples homes and it’s not seen as an issue because of the location. The city of industry seems to be known as a lower income, Latino communities. In the article Old Bottle New Wine, It states other examples of Environmental racism one being how larger corporations tend to take advantage of poor nations and they sell labor rights to the highest bidder.
The U.S – Mexican Border is an example being how they have people working double shifts not knowing the risks they put themselves through. But again, money makes the world go round. It will make a low income individual do the job.
After a plethora of incidents that these hazards chemicals caused, the people finally caught up to it. The communities that are being affected are bringing awareness to the health department. Because of this type of movement, the health department has requested change on hazardous waste policies. It’s a slow process, but change over time will occur.
Robinson, Deborah. “Environmental Racism: Old Wine in a New Bottle.” Women in Action 1-2 (2000): 75. Web.
http://greenaction.org/what-is-environmental-justice/
https://nccj.org/environmental-justice
https://images.app.goo.gl/mJXyqJ4VwXF7DS8GA
Environmental Justice for All 