The Global South of the United States: Corporate Terrorism of the Poor

What is the Global South? The Global South is a group of countries that are poor dangerous, and underdeveloped. These countries are located mainly in Africa, Latin America, South America, and Southeast Asia. Due to many reasons, scarcity of water and food to name a few, the Global South is a difficult and dangerous place to live. In these areas, basic human rights are violated constantly, where people live in poverty and despair. Many residents have little education, little money, and little healthcare. These problems seem distant, but many would be surprised to find that there are similar problems here in the United States. Can areas in the southern United States be classified as a Global South? “The South has always been regarded as backward because of its social, economic, political, and environmental policies. By default, the region became an environmental sacrifice zone, a dump for the rest of the nation’s toxic waste”(Bullard 88). Due to these problems, along with the living conditions of the citizens and the constant violation of their basic human rights, areas in the south such as in Mississippi and Louisiana can be identified as part of the Global South.
High rates of poverty, low rates of education, scarcity of resources, and multiple health hazards are all present in the Global South, it is no surprise that they are present in the south of the United States as well. These problems are highlighted in areas like Sumter County, Alabama and many other areas in the south. The corporations that place landfills and factories that release toxic pollutants that are detrimental to their health oppress the people in these regions. One of the most corrupt states is Louisiana, where the government and industry seemingly work together to the misery of the people. Louisiana has the fourth highest poverty rate and second highest percentage of children living in poverty in the United States (Bullard 89). Alternatively, Louisiana is the second largest producer of refined oil in the United States (Bullard 90). With so many people living in poverty who have little political power, the region is easily exploited by these big industries and businesses that wish to profit off the land.
So why do chemical companies target these poorer towns with a high makeup of minorities? Due to the large oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and the strategic importance of the Mississippi River, the petrochemical industry has targeted Louisiana. “The builders of garbage landfills, incinerators, and transfer stations have generally followed the path of least resistance, which has led to placement of their facilities in economically poor and politically powerless communities”(Bullard 60). These communities have little organization and usually cannot form effective resistance. Therefore, companies choose these towns essentially because they can get away with creating and dumping hazardous materials in these areas
How are chemical companies able to harm the surrounding citizens by polluting the air, water and ground? One of the major reasons is the government’s inability or lack of desire to regulate the industries. In many cases, the corruption in the political offices leads to the big tax breaks that the companies receive. These companies with deep pockets can afford to buy out politicians, local leaders, and residents. “The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is arguably the most powerful lobby in the state”(Bullard 90). Lobbyist groups like the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry have groomed potential political candidates and allied with other “industry specific political coalitions, such as the powerful Louisiana Chemical Association…augments its efforts to influence and promote a pro-industry economic development mode that supports the industry’s expansion”(Bullard 91). Small African American communities such as Convent and Morrisonville
Shintech Corporation planned to build the world’s largest polyvinyl chloride plastics facility in the town of Convent, Louisiana (Bullard 100). This factory would have dumped over 8 million gallons of wastewater into the Mississippi River daily and emitted dioxin. Dioxin is a known health threat and has been proven to increase the chances of cancer and other serious illnesses (Bullard 100). Coincidently, this heavily polluting plant would have been placed next to a town with a make up of 82 percent African Americans. In a three-mile radius around this town, there are six working plants. This example of environmental injustice lacks any sort of subtlety and yet the government did not step in to protect its own citizens.
There are examples of communities being essentially bought out and moved by these large corporations. Morrisonville, Louisiana was town founded in 1870 by freed slaves (Bullard 103). In 1959, the town allowed Dow Chemical Company to purchase some land within their town, which the company then began to expand upon. In 1989 Dow began to buy the residents from their land, a process that was completed in only 2 years. Only a church and two graveyards remain of what was once Morrisonville (Bullard 104).
The oppression of the poor in the south may not seem as serious as the conflicts faced everyday by citizens of Honduras or Somalia, or other Third World countries, but nevertheless, they are serious problems. The rights of the citizens are being violated by corrupt local governments and by toxic spewing factories. Is the south a Global South? Corporations target poor African American communities to plant their poisonous factories. Citizens in the community suffer higher risks for numerous health diseases due to these companies. Poverty is rampant, education is down, and the average income is at its lowest. Perhaps it is due to the entrenched memory of slavery and the lasting remnants of the Jim Crow laws that environmental racism is still permitted in the south. Sadly, the trend does not seem to be reversing, and the south is stagnating in toxic fumes and poisonous water. Regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and others are members of the Global South, as long as large businesses and corporations continue to run the government instead of the people who live there.