Environmental racism
Environmental racism depicts the disproportional exposure and impact of environmental-based hazards to some minority communities in the society that are marginalized. Notably, it involves limited access to the ecologically beneficial sources that include clean air and water. Owing to environmental racism, some individuals hailing from the marginalized communities are disproportionally exposed to toxins in the environment on the basis of their racial origin. According to Zimring, (2017) argues that environmental racism can into existence several years before the development of the movement for environmental justice in the United States. Per se, the non-whites were exposed to extremely risky environmental hazards on the basis of racial ideologies. Zimring, (2017) maintains that the racism occurred following the dumping of solid wastes in locations occupied by the non-white individuals resulting in the development of discriminatory landscapes. In this paper, a succinct evaluation of environmental racism will be undertaken.
Causes of environmental racism
One of the notable causes of environmental racism is the intentional neglecting of the non-white communities owing to the development of a highly capitalistic society. As such, the non-white individuals are depicted as individuals hailing from communities that contribute minimally to the economic growth. Notably, due to the establishment of a capitalistic society, individuals in the upper class are less concerned with those in the lower class. Likewise, the government agencies concerned with environmental safety are minimally concerned with the well-being of the disadvantaged population groups. Due to this, no exists no efforts to protect the marginalized non-white groups from hazardous wastes exposure.
Similarly, laxity in some of the organs that have been mandated to uphold environmental justice and counteract environmental racism is another notable reason why the vice is still being experienced. The Environmental Protection Agency that has been championed with the mandate of policing the abuse and abandonment of civil rights has lax in addressing escalating racial-based environmental discrimination (Lombardi, Buford \" Greene, 2015). The agency is mandated with the role of keeping any social abuse in check and is required to fund other agencies with the aim of enabling them to prevent environmental discriminatory actions. For instance, evidence shows that the Environmental Protection Agency has neglected its role by failing to address complaint regarding the violation of civil rights connected to black property owners Lombardi, Buford \" Greene, 2015). From this case, it is clearly evident that lack of commitment in addressing discriminatory environmental discriminatory activities has continually propagated the environmental racism vice.
Subsequently, there exists certain institutional-based policies and federal environmental rules that mainly target given communities regarding the use of undesirable lands coupled with the poor enforcement of sound environmental laws (Greenaction.org, 2018). Per se, the resultant effect is the exposure of the marginalized communities to the hazardous pollutants and waste products on that is rooted in racial inclination. Often, some of the environmental rules ensure that the landfills and damping sites are located in remote areas which are mainly inhabited by the non-whites. The result is that; they are exposed to risks as opposed to their white counterparts resulting environmental racism. Besides, most of the production industries are elected in the local areas away from the big cities. In some situations, these local areas are inhibited by the marginalized and poor people thereby exposing them to direct pollution from the toxic waste from such facilities. Moreover, the existence of a necessity to harbor waste in the cities fosters the development of waste disposal sites away from these cities. The fact that most of the waste disposal sites are located in the remote regions often affect the poor non-white individuals who mainly occupy the rural regions.
Cleere, (2016) asserts that environmental racism depicts discriminatory actions of the policymakers. Likewise, it is also a result of racial discrimination seen during law enforcement. It originates from the inherent deliberate aiming of colored populations when disposing of waste as well as electing industries. Often, the environmental racism is mainly perpetrated on the colored communities since they are less likely to resist such vices. Due to their inability to fight for their healthy environmental rights, the colored communities continue to suffer environmental racism.
Pulido, (2017) asserts that environmental racism chiefly springs from racial capitalism. Despite that fact that the environmental justice movement has shown significant success in varied levels, there exists no notable success in attempts to enhance the environments where the vulnerable community groups live. The main reason is that; the problem has not been conceptualized. Hence, racial capitalism has developed to be one of the notable driving factors to the establishment of environmental racism.
The devaluation of human values has been identified as the other factor that is attributed to the propagation of environmental racism. The devaluation of human lives ensures that the local authority subordinates its goals with the lives of the community. For example, Pulido, (2016) highlights that the Flint disaster was propagated by the local state whose activities fall under neoliberalism. In the Flint case, the local municipality deliberately contaminated the water supply that served the marginalized black community groups. The incident depicted a clear aspect of what devaluation of basic human values on the basis of the individual race resulted in the contamination of water supply that chiefly affected the black population. Pulido, (2016) maintains that this depicts one of the many other assaults that face the colored people living among the white.
Impact of environmental racism
Environmental racism exposes the marginalized colored communities to significant health risks that eventually trigger the development of chronic illnesses. For instance, when industries are elected close to the premises of the marginalized people, such population face air pollution. Following the exposure to air pollution, the development of chronic respiratory problems is inevitable. A perfect example is seen when environmental pollution results in the exposure of individuals to lead and metal poisoning mainly from the industries that result in health problems. Notably, Harlem is depicted as one of the regions in New York that faces extreme burdens from the high level of toxic wastes. As such, this region had been ranked as number two by being one of the extremely polluted neighborhoods in New York back in 2013. Subsequently, epidemiologists have implicated Harlem with significantly many cases of asthmatic conditions attributed to the profound toxic wastes that characterize the region. Therefore, environmental racism can be identified as one of the key reasons why statistics depict the existence of health disparities between the white and the colored communities.
Similarly, environmental racism results in the mental and psychological effects especially on identifying the existence of discrimination that is rooted in the race. Often, the fact that the colored individuals are the ones that are mainly exposed to environmental hazards in comparison with their white counterparts mainly elicit the development of psychological effects. Based on the mental impact that the environmental racism causes, the colored communities have joined hands to fight for their rights. One of the mechanisms that have been embraced by the colored individuals is the establishment of movements geared towards fighting for a justice-based community where all are equally and fairly treated.
Mechanisms of addressing environmental racism
The establishment of justice movement is depicted as one of the notable approaches that have been embraced in the fight for racial equality and the elimination of racial based environmental discrimination. The public has become conscious of the environmental injustice that is greatly propagated on the colored and marginalized communities. As such, several human activist groups have come up to champion for the rights if the implicated colored communities. The fight involved championing the establishment of sound policies and regulations regarding siting of the industries that emanate toxic wastes. Notably, the movements for environmental justice lobby for the establishment of protective modalities for the vulnerable groups. Majora Carter is depicted as one of the activists championing for environmental justice. Per se, in her talk, "Greening the Ghetto" (Ayoub, 2014), Carter highlighted some of the dehumanizing experiences that faced her in her childhood when living in South Bronx that is a black populated region. Due to this experience, Carter continues to lobby for environmental justice to eliminate the great environmental burden that weighs heavily on the black communities. The effort is seen in the fight for the establishment of a safe environment to protect the human being from deliberate exposure to hazards in the environment that is likely to endanger their lives.
The other strategy that has been enacted as a means of dealing with the environmental racism vice is the direct government involvement and commitment towards establishing an environmentally just society. Per se, the government has established regulatory policies and agencies that govern the disposal of toxic waste. In this approach, the states have sighed international agreement concerned with the protection of the environment to make it safe for human habitation. A sound example is seen in the establishment of Bill 89 that targets cleaning of Boat Habour in Scotia, Canada (Perfitt, 2015). Based on this approach, most of the factories that emanate the toxic wastes are required to come up with effective waste handling and control measures to ensure that the hazardous effects of the waste do not reach the communities. Therefore, the establishment of guidelines regarding waste disposal is a notable strategy in championing environment-based racial justice.
Conclusively, it is vividly clear that environmental racism is a significant vice that continues to affect the marginalized and minority populations of the blacks living among the majority white communities. The problem mainly entails unequal exposure to high level of toxins in the environment on the basis of one`s color. Some of the main factors propagating the problem include negligence; devaluation of human lives; laxity of agencies mandated to control any form of environmental abuse and lack of commitment in strengthening the policies regarding environmental protection. The development of both physiological and psychological problems depicts some of the effects of effects of environmental racism. Some of the approaches employed in addressing environmental racism include the establishment of agencies to protect the environment, development of lobby and activist groups as well as the establishment of policies towards establishing an environmentally just society.
Reference
Ayoub., H. (2014, March 5). Environmental Racism: How Communities of Color Bear the Greatest Burden of the US’s Waste | Environmental Leadership, Action and Ethics. Retrieved from https://edblogs.columbia.edu/scppx3335-001-2014-1/2014/03/05/53/
Cleere, R. (2016). Environmental Racism and the Movement for Black Lives: Grassroots Power in the 21st Century.
Greenaction.org. (2018). Environmental Justice " Environmental Racism | GREENACTION. Greenaction.org. Retrieved 24 April 2018, from http://greenaction.org/?page_id=420
Lombardi, K., Buford, T., " Greene, R. (2015, September 4). Environmental racism persists, and the EPA is one reason why. Retrieved from https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/08/03/17668/environmental-racism-persists-and-epa-one-reason-why
Perfitt, K. (2015, May 20). Addressing environmental racism to ensure rights for everyone in Canada - Blue Dot - David Suzuki Foundation. Retrieved from http://bluedot.ca/stories/addressing-environmental-racism-to-ensure-rights-for-everyone-in-canada/
Pulido, L. (2016). Flint, environmental racism, and racial capitalism. 27(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10455752.2016.1213013
Pulido, L. (2017). Geographies of race and ethnicity II: Environmental racism, racial capitalism and state-sanctioned violence. Progress in Human Geography, 41(4), 524-533
Zimring, C. A. (2017). Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States. NYU Press.
