Development of African American Communities - Essay Example

It was in the early 1980s that activists realized how environmental hazards were placed. These comprised of toxic waste dumping areas, which were mostly in close proximity to African American communities. This is where the advent of environmental racism came into play and there was a multitude of civil rights movements as well as environmental movements which aimed to combat environmental racism. Environmental racism is a notion that encompassed the prejudice which lies at the root of the object why the minorities have to face such a huge share of environmental issues. This brings us to the first reason which highlights the notion of the existence of environmental racism – that of social inequality; the one that exists and widens the margin between the upper and middle white class and the lowly minorities; hence the formulation of a basic criticism which looked at how the low income and the minority Americans had to face the clearly disproportionate burden of environmental issues. These comprised of the existence of basic landfill which were located near their residence as well as the unsafe and risky environments in which these individuals held jobs (Bullard, 2000) Studies conducted on the placement of hazardous toxic waste sites went to show that the primary locations selected for the dumping of unsafe agents were mostly in the South. It showed how the hazardous waste sites were located primarily in the communities where the black resided. This brings us to the second reason that contributes to environmental inequality, that which pertains to racial inequality and discrimination being a major reason why it is mainly residential areas in which the low income black reside are primary locations for the dumping and disposal of hazardous toxic wastes (Gaventa, John and Willingham, 1990). The aspect of residential segregation along with racial income inequality falls to be the key reasons as to why environmental inequality in societies prevails. Even since 1987, research has focused on these aspects looking at the reasons behind why it was that the minorities were at higher risk as compared to whites to be living in areas which had more pollution, health risks, and unsafe environmental aspects. They were able to chalk down residential segregation as one of the top reasons as to why societies showed such disparity when it come to the allocation of environmentally unsafe locations being near the minority or African-American residential areas. GIS based socio-spatial analysis is just one way that we can see the mainstay evidence which shows the prevalence of environmental inequality that exists in our society today. Another reason which can be highlighted which has led to the prevalence of environmental inequalities is that which has to do with the racial disparity when it came to the enforcement of environmental laws which was found by the National Law Journal. Their carried out research showed that penalties that existed as part of the federal hazardous waste laws in most of the white areas were almost 500% higher than in the low income black or the minority residential locations, when it came to the dumping and disposal of toxic and hazardous waste. Another part of the reason had to do with the frequency of the cleanups that took place on the contaminated locations. It was seen that the placement of non-white zones on the national priorities list took more time than compared to the high income white locations; and that the frequency with which the contamination in the white areas was treated was a lot more thorough and the removal of contamination vastly more effective. This led to the eventual creation and spread of environmental inequalities in the society with the higher risk areas being those where the minority or the low income communities, like the African Americans, resided whereas the majority of the white Americans remained safe and highly risk free from the implications of environmental hazards pertaining to the disposal of hazardous waste dumping (University of Colorado, 2007). As it has been mentioned that the environmental racism is more prone to affect those regions which are economically hindered but environmental problems are in one way or the other going to lead to other societal problem (A case of negative externalities). Many industries are environmentally harmful for their surrounding and lead to a high portion of waste to be disposed in the nearby regions, (places such as Texas, Alabama). Though this leads to benefits to the industries the regions with slightly weak economies and less political stability have an unwanted burden on their shoulders. Environmental waste cause health problems and propagates the spread of airborne diseases within a society , this adds a financial burden on the society who already do not possess the organization , financial resources or personnel to curb a problem which should not have been their own to begin with. Environmental waste initially leads to two major social problems; first that of the diseases and environmental pollution that is caused in the region (such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other pulmonary diseases) and secondly the monetary and problem with resource allocation to curb this critical issue in their society. As Bullard continues to emphasize within his findings that one major issue that environmental quality brings out is that of modern day racism within the United States. The five case studies that Bullard has conducted which revolve around environmental problems in the United States most of those regions have a Black or Hispanic majority living in those regions, most of them who live under the poverty line. Another social problem identified is the negligent behavior of the government and industries to the economically deprived fractions of society. The industries take benefit from the fact that environmental pollution is not a major problem for the people living in this region when higher prevalent problems such as drugs, high crime rate, poverty and starvation exist in their societies and the government whose job is to curb this problem is failing to take any action against them. These are the problems caused by the standard of environmental quality. Bullard found a relationship between four social issues and environmental problems. Firstly barriers to employment, housing and education are prevalent in the regions where there are environmental problems due to the fact that the people who live in these regions are from the lower bracket of society and cannot find alternate jobs and housing and have a lack of education to combat the problem. Secondly Bullard explains that the industries follow a path of least resistance that is those regions which are least likely to combat the problem are most likely to be a victim of it. This is true for the environmental part of the problem which exist today. The industrialists do not just locate their industries in that region but also dispose of their waste in these regions which are politically powerless and economically hindered. Thirdly those regions which do not have many environmental lobbyists and advocates to push for their cause have a direct relationship which poor environmental condition in their region and lastly those regions which have more pressing issues such as drugs, high crime rates etc also have a direct relationship with poor environment as compared to those regions where these problems do not exist. As mentioned in the previous section of this answer, there is a direct relationship between the economic wellbeing of the country and the quality of environment that exist in that region. The Commission for Racial Justice’s Toxic Wastes and Race report showed that the major contributor to environmental problems existed in those regions where minority races such as Black and Hispanics were in majority. Furthermore The Commission for Racial Justice found out that socio-economic factor had a major role to play in determining the environmental quality existing within these regions such as Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Alabama. Bullard went on those emphasize regions where the political scenario is weak and economic classes are mostly from the lower bracket leads to a problem existing with the environmental set up of that region. Bullard conducted case studies in five regions in which the environmental problems was at all-time high. These included Emelle-Sumter County Alabama which had a population of thirty three percent under the poverty line and this region has been declared the biggest hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal factory. This is one in numerous examples as that of North Wood Manor Neighborhood Texas, West Dallas Texas, Institute West Virginia and Alsen, Louisiana where such discriminatory action was found to be existing. Industries are not to be found in places such as New York and Miami but these regions are flooded with them. Though there is discrimination that has took place in the United States for a few decades now but now slightly change is taking place, people are getting more aware of the problems existing around them, NGOs have started to point out the double standards that the government keeps with these people and the government has recognized and finally taken small steps to eradicate the problem .So the problem existing today may slowly diminish tomorrow (Bullard, 1990). References Bullard, Robert D. “Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality.” Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000. Gaventa, John and Alex W. Willingham. “Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South.” Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1990. University of Colorado at Boulder.” Environmental Racism Study Finds Levels Of Inequality Defy Simple Explanation” (2007, July 9). Read More