Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter! When you initially heard this chant and followed the movement you might only focus on police brutality and injustice but have you ever connected the Black Lives Matter movement with environmental injustice?
Think about this, in 1983, the U.S. General Accounting Office conducted a study that found three out of four of the off-site commercial hazard waste landfills in Region 4 (South) were located in predominantly African American communities (Bullard & Johnson, 2000).
This is just one example of how the United States intentionally doesn't consider African American and other Blacks as people that deserve to live healthy and happily. The Atlanta Black Star talks about 8 examples of environmental racism with examples as close as Richmond, CA. According to the Atlanta Black Star, "The people of Richmond, particularly African-Americans, are at significantly higher risk of dying from heart disease and strokes and more likely to go to hospitals for asthma than other county residents" (Atlanta Black Star, 2015).
Things that we can do to prevent environmental racism is to advocate for the vulnerable population, support politicians that are aware and ready to make a change and support programs that are already in the works to make a change from a grassroots standpoint.
It is shocking to hear those statisicts from 1983 regarding the off-site commercial hazard waste landfills. It is quite frightening to think about a country intentionally hurting African-American and other black people that have contributed so much to this country and made this country what it is today. It is deeply disturbing to realize this is still happening today. I believe in what you are saying and agree that we must advocate against environmental racism and specifically for the protection of African-American/Black communities that have been systematically marginalized and oppressed in this country since its founding.
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