WHAT IS

ENVIRONMENTAL
RACISM?
By Coșe Izabela
 Environmental racism is a type of
systemic racism wherein policies and
practices place industrial facilities in low
income communities, including
Communities of Color. This promotes high
pollution environments, which often cause
health problems for residents. It is a form
of inequality wherein People of Color face
a higher burden of exposure to
environmental hazards such as pollution.
The term has existed formally since a
series of protests brought about action in
the 1980s.
 The United States General Accounting Office
first recognized environmental racism in a 1983
report that compared the racial distribution of
people within hazardous waste environments,
such as plastic plants, highways, and power
stations. They found that 75% of communities
near harmful landfill sites were predominantly
Black.
 Since the initial report, researchers have
identified more environmental burdens causing
racial inequality. These include
disproportionally poor water quality, a lack of
sanitation, and high exposure to carbon dioxide
emissions in Communities of Color. Such
conditions can cause health problems, including
different types of cancer and respiratory
illnesses such as asthma.
 A 2018 study by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) used emission particles to
compare the environmental burden of pollution
across different communities in the U.S.
 The research found that the burden was 35%
higher for people living in poverty in general
and 28% higher for People of Color. Black
people, specifically, had a burden level 54%
greater than that of the overall population.
 There is an increasing number of case studies
showing how Communities of Color have
disproportionally high exposure to health and
environmental risks.
 THE FLINT WATER
CRISIS
 In 2014, the city of Flint, MI, changed its water source to
the Flint River to save money. However, it did not use
proper treatment processes for the water supply. This
exposed the city’s 100,000 residents — most of whom were
Black — to bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Legionella
and contaminants such as lead, which is a neurotoxin.
 The poor water quality caused the water to be foul smelling
and discolored. Even though people were experiencing hair
loss and skin conditions, the city did not take action for 18
months. During this time, 12 people died from
Legionnaires’ disease.
 The Michigan Civil Rights Commission identified the
situation as a crisis that stemmed from a history of
segregation in Flint, whereby Communities of Color were
restricted to living in areas with substandard resources.
Water samples from a Flint, Michigan home. The
bottles were collected, from left, on Jan. 15 (the
first two), Jan. 16 and Jan. 21, 2015.
GLOBAL
IMPACT
 Environmental racism is not limited to the U.S.
It is also occurring on a global scale.
 An international example is the 1984 incident
in Bhopal, India, where a pesticide plant
belonging to the American corporation Union
Carbide leaked 27 tons of methyl isocyanate
gas. This created a toxic vapor that killed
25,000 people and caused health conditions in
over 120,000 people.
 As with other components of systematic
racism, environmental racism is an issue that
requires action on national and global scales if
equal rights are to be achieved.