Winter 2011
Environmental Racism
Environmental racism deals with the exploitation of people because of their economic status
with regards to hazardous materials. According to ejnet.org, environmental racism is “…the
disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color.”1 Most of the time the
exploitation happens because of skin color but that it not necessarily true. According to Dr. Robert
Bullard, a scholar and activist in the environmental justice field, “Now all of the issues of environmental
racism and environmental justice don't just deal with people of color. We are just as much concerned
with inequities in Appalachia, for example, where the whites are basically dumped on because of lack of
economic and political clout and lack of having a voice to say ‘no’ and that's environmental injustice.”2
Minorities in America have been exploited since white men have arrived. Whether it was enslaving
Africans, forcing Natives to lands that were uninhabitable, or putting Japanese in internment camps
during World War II, racism that led the thinking then, still pervades decisions made today.
Racism’s roots trace back to the first moment someone said, “I am better than that person.”
Activism traces back to the moment another person said, “Says who?” Sadly, it took up until the 1960’s
for the Civil Right Movement to occur. According to pollutionissues.com, “the term environmental
racism, or environmental discrimination, is used to describe racial disparities in a range of actions and
processes, including but not limited to the (1) increased likelihood of being exposed to environmental
hazards; (2) disproportionate negative impacts of environmental processes; (3) disproportionate
negative impacts of environmental policies, for example, the differential rate of cleanup of
environmental contaminants in communities composed of different racial groups; (4) deliberate
targeting and sitting of noxious facilities in particular communities; (5) environmental blackmail that
arises when workers are coerced or forced to choose between hazardous jobs and environmental
1
2
“Environmental Justice/Environmental Racism”, http://www.ejnet.org/ej/, (accessed January 19, 2011).
Ibid.
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standards; (6) segregation of ethnic minority workers in dangerous and dirty jobs; (7) lack of access to or
inadequate maintenance of environmental amenities such as parks and playgrounds; and (8) inequality
in environmental services such as garbage removal and transportation.”3
The term environmental racism was coined when a report titled Toxic Wastes and Race by the
United Church of Christ was published in 1987. The origins of the study trace back to when the state of
North Carolina decided to place a toxic land fill in a predominantly poor black neighborhood. Residents
of that neighborhood called on the United Church of Christ Commission of Racial Justice to investigate
their claims and to protest in a nonviolent manner. Follow up studies from other parts of the nation
revealed , “what was perceived at the time to be the intentional placement of hazardous waste sites,
landfills, incinerators, and polluting industries in communities inhabited mainly by African Americans,
Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, farm workers and the working poor.”4 The
United Church of Christ recognizes environmental racism also as an issue of faith. But one should not
shy away from that because some of the greatest activists of our time- Dr. King, Gandhi, and Mother
Theresa- have used faith to their advantage.
In 2007, the United Church of Christ published a twentieth anniversary report aptly titled, Toxic
Wastes and Race at Twenty. Sadly the report states, “Twenty years after the release of Toxic Wastes and
Race, significant racial and socioeconomic disparities persist in the distribution of the nation’s
commercial hazardous waste facilities. Although the current assessment uses newer methods that
better match where people and hazardous waste facilities are located, the conclusions are very much
3
“Environmental Racism”, Pollution Issues, http://www.pollutionissues.com/Ec-Fi/Environmental-Racism.html,
(accessed January 19, 2011).
4
“Environmental Racism”, United Church of Christ, http://www.ucc.org/environmental-ministries/environmentalracism.html, (accessed January 20, 2011).
Winter 2011
the same as they were in 1987.”5 So essentially, we know where and how poor minorities are being
poisoned however, no one is doing anything about it or stopping the destruction.
The Executive Order 12898 “Federal Action to Address Environmental Injustice in Minority
Populations and Low-Income Populations” was signed by President Clinton in February 1994. In addition
to “ensure” that all people live in a “safe and healthful environment”6 the Order was passed allegedly to
“develop environmental justice strategies to aid federal agencies identify and address
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies,
and activities on minority and low-income populations. The Order was also intended to promote
nondiscrimination in federal programs substantially affecting human health and the environment, and
to provide minority and low-income communities access to public information on, and an opportunity
for public participation in, matters relating to human health or the environment.”7 However, according
to the report that was published by the United Church of Christ three years later, nothing was changed.
Providing public information in the form of pamphlets will only contribute to more waste- materially and
intellectually.
Big companies and government are more likely to take advantage of minorities and the working
poor because they do not want to jeopardize their jobs or homes. The Homer Simpsons of the world sit
at their desk at the nuclear power plant every day, eating donuts, aimlessly pressing buttons not
thinking where the toxic waste goes. Then he drives many miles away from the plant to his middle class
home, where he cracks open a beer and begins his night watching the boob tube; he doesn’t realize that
5
Robert Bullard PhD, and others, Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty 1987-2007 Grassroots Struggle to Dismantle
Environmental Racism in the United States, (March 2007), 176, http://www.ejnet.org/ej/twart.pdf (accessed
January 20, 2011)
6
“Environmental Justice”, United States Environmental Justice Protection Agency,
http://www.epa.gov/oecaerth/environmentaljustice/resources/faqs/index.html, (accessed January 20, 2011)
7
Ibid.
Winter 2011
the buttons he pressed at work poisoned the ground water around the plant. He does not realize, but
his boss does realize and doesn’t care.
Whether it is the dumping of nuclear waste on Native American land, shipment of e-waste to
third world countries, or the Toxic Donut of Chicago’s south side environmental racism is rampant in our
society. Executive Order 12898, the illusion of deliberation and extension of Jim Crow laws, gives no
hope when read along side with reports such Toxic Wastes and Race. Awareness of the issue is at hand
and action is now the answer.
Winter 2011
Bibliography
Bullard, Richard D. PhD, Paul Mohai PhD, Robin Saha PhD, Beverly Wright PhD, Toxic Wastes and Race
at Twenty 1987-2007 Grassroots Struggle to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the United
States, (March 2007), 176, http://www.ejnet.org/ej/twart.pdf (accessed January 20, 2011).
“Environmental Justice/Environmental Racism”, http://www.ejnet.org/ej/, (accessed January 19, 2011).
“Environmental Justice”, United States Environmental Justice Protection Agency,
http://www.epa.gov/oecaerth/environmentaljustice/resources/faqs/index.html, (accessed
January 20, 2011).
“Environmental Racism”, Pollution Issues, http://www.pollutionissues.com/Ec-Fi/EnvironmentalRacism.html, (accessed January 19, 2011).
“Environmental Racism”, United Church of Christ, http://www.ucc.org/environmentalministries/environmental-racism.html, (accessed January 20, 2011).