Arguments Against Environmental Racism

Words: 1887
Pages: 8
Open Document
It is no secret that in recent years we have begun to see the effects of our treatment of the planet. Many scientists are predicting that in the next 20-30 years, a major environmental or ecological catastrophe will take place if we stay on our current path. Various communities around the world have already had to face the repercussions of an environmental disaster. However, one pattern that is noticeable is that it is certain communities that seem to be facing the worst of these environmental misfortunes. When it comes to environmental regulation, communities that are disproportionately made up of people of color are not given the same treatment as others. This is referred to as “environmental racism” and it has justified environmental atrocities …show more content…
Due to our society's culture of mass consumption there is a enormous buildup of garbage. We’ve built up so much trash in America, that we now have to export it to other countries like China (Humes). With such a large consolidation of garbage and other waste, there is no avoiding the harsh reality that the environment and human health are being put at a heavy risk. Evidence shows that once again, communities of color are the ones facing the consequences of this practice. One example that comes to mind is the town of Emelle, Alabama. This community is 93.55% black and many of it’s residents live below the poverty level. This also just happens to be the home to one of the largest and most hazardous landfills in America (Humes). They also have installed giant incinerators in an attempt to reduce the trash build up, but as it has been scientifically proven, the use of incinerators makes the air toxic. Another example of this would once again be the Navajo community, specifically the one that resides within Dilkon, Arizona. A company known as Waste-Tech Services, Inc attempted to build a recycling facility in the area with the promise of offering jobs to the poverty stricken Navajo community. What the company forgot to mention was that they intended to incinerate extremely hazardous materials from other states and that the Navajo tribe would be …show more content…
One example of this would be the Chinese immigrant community of San Francisco during the nineteenth century. White people essentially tried to create a narrative that Chinese people were a filthy, germ ridden people who were carriers of diseases like smallpox and the bubonic plague (Shah). This history is accounted in Contagious Divides by Nayan Shah who describes how supposed evidence provided by doctors allowed White America to demonize this community and create a divide in public health policy. This also gave white people the incentive to enforce certain regulations upon the community with impunity (Shah). Another example of this is something that I have witnessed personally. When I volunteered on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation I noticed that there were piles and piles of junked up cars. I was informed by an elder from that community that these cars were used to store cultural artifacts among many other things and are also used to supply the necessary parts to people’s vehicles when needed due to the fact that transportation is essential to people's survival on the reservation. White people who drive through the reservation will often look at this and automatically assume that the people on that reservation are filthy. I was told that people from Rapid City look at the reservation with disgust by members of the community. Both these instances show how communities of
Show More

Related Documents: Arguments Against Environmental Racism

Argumentative Essay Against The Dakota Access Pipeline

In their September 2016 article, Federal government moves to halt oil pipeline construction near Standing Rock Sioux tribal land, Heim. Joe and Berman, Mark, wrote “A federal judge ruled Friday against the Standing Rock Sioux Trible’s request for a preliminary injunction to halt construction on the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline that the tribe says endanger sacred burial ground and could threaten its water supply from Lake Oahe, a dammed section of the Missouri river” (Heim. Joe and Berman). Historically…

Words 1528 - Pages 7

Ecosystem 101 Essay

from all different classes of people. Kathlyn Gay’s book is reputable because it neither favors nor downplays either sides of the environment vs. economics debate, but thoroughly explains both sides’ stances. For example, Gay talks about how environmental controls have prevented loggers from cutting trees in the habitat of the northern spotted owl since it was listed as endangered. With thousands of acres of trees off limits to loggers, the supply of timber became scarce which in turn pushed up…

Words 1749 - Pages 7

Racism and World Racial Equilibrium Essay

explicit policies of segregation and apartheid, and candid avowals of racial superiority and inferiority all appear today as hopeless atavisms, relics of a benighted past. International organizations like the UN have for decades made opposition to racism a central priority. And the globalized “culture industry”—from Hollywood to Bollywood, from Disney to Globo to Benneton—has produced a continuing stream of anti-racist messages: legitimating interracial romance and friendship, stigmatizing prejudice…

Words 6946 - Pages 28

Muslim Women In Canada

society. Also, the young Muslim girls may be affected by the element of gender socialization and gender equality. It is an equally sensitive element of double standards against Muslims, which effects the Muslim girls. Although, schools teach students the elements of kindness, charity and concern for social as well as environmental welfare that are taught within Islamic schools are the limiting frames for the construction of gendered identities for young girls and…

Words 1371 - Pages 6

Chapter 13 Outline Essay

Controllable/Uncontrollable causes * People only have power over certain things * Example: Bob planned to go hang out with his friends at the mall (controllable) but his car broke down (uncontrollable), so his friends won't hold it against him. Attributional Errors and Biases * Actor is the person who produces the behavior to be explained * Observer is the person who offers an explanation of the actor's behavior * Actors view their behavior as external while observer…

Words 2941 - Pages 12

Rwanda Genocide Research Paper

propaganda often referring the Tutsis as cockroaches and calling themselves superior which is a clear example of elite actions. We cannot ignore the historical processes that led to this toxic extremism; the colonial discrimination and exclusion, envy, racism, power plays all set the stage for Genocide. The theory of instrumentalism is therefore brought out clearly in the Rwandan genocide where ethnic conflict was driven by the goals of political leaders. Rwanda was colonised by the Belgium until 1962…

Words 1511 - Pages 7

Intergenerational Trauma

Trauma is known as a chemical brain response to an adverse event. In whatever environmental context, it can either be beneficial or detrimental. It coincides with adverse experiences, producing a mental illness that disrupts the activities of daily life. Even with this, we must understand the circumstances of mental illness. “PTSD is not ‘unnatural’ but rather a cost of evolutionarily prioritizing survival,” according to the study “Predator Induced Fear.”. That is the basis of therapeutic help (Zannette…

Words 2116 - Pages 9

Stupid White Men Essay

Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation attacks the big, ugly special-interest group that's laying waste to the world as we know it: stupid white men. In his book, Moore calls for the United Nations to take action against the "Bush Family Junta," for African-Americans to place Whites Only signs over the entrances of unfriendly businesses, and calls on the Democrats of this nation to turn over their headquarters and return to Republican headquarters where they belong…

Words 1878 - Pages 8

Sociology: Crime and Official Crime Figures Essay

Functionalism | An approach that seeks to explain the existence of social structures by the roles they perform in or for society. | Indictable offences | Serious crimes, where if a person is found guilty they are likely to go to prison. | Institutional racism | Where the structure and practises of an organisation such as the police, lead to a group being discriminated. | Lad-ette | A young woman who behaves in a crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions. | Marxist | An approach which looks…

Words 8348 - Pages 34

American Indian Environmental Issue Essay

Sustainability, in Environmentalism Indigenous NorthAmerica ABSTRACT Building a range issues on of in Indian: and and in presented initiallyTheEcological Myth History, debated subsequently reviews various and this in to traditional environmental oral conservation papers, article ranges widely time address knowledge, history, and sustainability, environmentalism in Indian I also offer and on theinvolvementNative of in large-scale Country. thoughts people as schemes and…

Words 6460 - Pages 26