Environmental Justice



Environmental justice is more of a newer term for me, although not a new concept. My initial thoughts reading about the inequalities of neighborhoods disproportionately affecting people of color are that these are rooted in our nation's beginnings.  There has been a devaluing of certain races and ethnicities, especially demonstrated against African Americans and also Native Americans. Housing segregation was created by governmental policies, such as mortgage discrimination in which banks could deny loans to areas that were redlined as "high risk." Other legislation like the GI bill of 1944 furthered segregation practices, as African Americans would face discrimination when buying homes.


I think these issues surrounding environmental justice should be talked about more, but it will take people to stand up. Similarly, to the hazardous chemicals present in our lives, big companies and sometimes the government will keep people in the dark about things because it can be beneficial to them. And they have a lot of power and money to do so. But, in the case of the Black Lives Matters movement I feel the power game is at an even higher level. When people fight out against these injustices, people in power and those who are fearful often paint inaccurate pictures and spread wrong messages about the reason why people are fighting. Behind the anger and uprising are stories such as those listed in the article "8 Horrifying Examples of Corporations Mistreating Black Communities with Environmental Racism."

Comments

  1. Caitlin WintonSeptember 12, 2018 at 5:42 AM

    Hi Stacey,

    I think it is a really interesting point that you bring environmental injustice being rooted in our nation's history. You're right, unfortunately it is and this county does not have a good track record with racial equality. It's sad to think that these things still occur and that the civil right movement occurred more than 60 years ago and black communities still have to fight for their equality.

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  2. Jordan DemosSeptember 14, 2018 at 9:44 AM

    Hello Stacey,

    I agree 100% with your beginning statement as I touched on that on my comment in your Vulnerable Populations blog. To your point about the BLM movement. I feel like politics, and the government play a huge role in how we look at organizations like that. If you talk with someone from BLM or listen to them speak, you can do nothing but agree, and care for the issue, but when people use BLM as a political tool, then they are contributing to what is wrong with America because they are shaping the way people think.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2018 at 9:29 AM

    You are completely on point that environmental justice is more than just about environment. Its correlate strongly with racism, social justice and economic disparities. The domino effects of racism and discrimination steams out into social and environmental justice. Its crazy how in prominently minority dominated neighborhood has so many toxic waste areas and factories...

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