Environmental Racism (Module 5)

Environmental equality is a governmental issue. Hence, the government has endorsed movements such as the Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) and has passed unequal zoning laws and landfill constructions. Robert D. Bullard states, “The dominant environmental protection paradigm reinforces instead of challenges the stratification of people (according to race, ethnicity, status, power, and so on), places (central cities, rural areas, unincorporated areas, Native American reservations, and so on), and types of work (for example, office workers are afforded greater protection than farm workers)” (p. 29). Resulting in an unequal allotment of protection, this leaves certain classes in the minority and puts them at greater risk of being unprotected. It is evident that some ethnicities (African American, Latino, etc) are more vulnerable to health risks due to living in a less protected or monitored portions of the environment.
Research has proven that this lack of protection leaves minorities at risk. Bullard states, “Clean air is a basic right. Air pollution is not randomly distributed across communities and the landscape, so some populations are at greater risk from dirty air” (p. 34). Percentage breakdowns suggest Caucasians are least affected by such poor air quality situations, leaving most minorities literally in the dust. It is a basic right to be given equal opportunities such as breathing clean air and to access fresh drinking water. Discriminating, against a certain faction of people, does not allow for an equal distribution of human rights.
This issue is not new in society today. Unfortunately, environmental discrimination and segregation in general has a long history of being instituted in the United States; “Environmental racism is also a by-product of the racial segregation and discrimination legitimated in the southern United States by Jim Crow laws (enacted between 1877 and 1954…)” (Bullard, p. 87). Hence, segregation of minority classes has influenced the laws of environmental protection. However, instead of seeing an increase of equality, further stratification of certain groups is becoming increasingly apparent.
Minority groups face an uphill battle in the environmental protection war; “The lack of parks in communities of color in Los Angeles is not an accident of unplanned growth, but the result of a history and pattern of discriminatory land use planning, racially restrictive housing covenants, discriminatory funding formulas, and other practices,” show that minorities are meant to stay as the minority (Bullard, p. 147). The laws enacted to previously unequally divided environmental protection were so skewed the effect is permanent. The minorities, who had to deal with living in an environment that was not as fruitful as others, are in no place to move into a healthier environment “class.” Race keeps people from incorporating with one another. Hence, laws benefit the majority race (White) of people in America. Therefore, making it easier to keep their sections of cities clean.
The ruling of Alexander V. Sandoval is another illustration of how the government is attempting to debar certain minorities from environmental protection. This ruling solidifies the stratification of the minority’s equal human rights. Although, Bullard suggests several scenarios that can still be used as a catalyst for equal protection, “Building multicultural alliances; pursuing legislative and political advocacy and strategic media campaigns; undertaking multidisciplinary research and analyses of financial, demographic and historical data; and strengthening democratic involvement in the public decision-making process” (Bullard, p. 166). Subsequently, this shows that there is an expectation for an equal distribution of environmental protection at some point in the near future. It certainly appears that minority factions are being denied basic human rights, which must be remedied in the present day society. The processes of dumping toxic waste and building landfills needs to be reverted into a fair procedure allowing each race to entertain basic human rights, regardless of current living standards.