Environmental Racism: Unfair Burden on Low-Income Groups - Essay Sample

Introduction

Environmental racism is an environmental justice movement concept developed in the 1970s and 1980s in the US (Bullard et al. 3). It refers to a situation where the environmental injustice, either in policy and practice, is leveled against minority groups. Understandably, the targeted groups are always the African Americans and other people with a low socio-economic status where they are unfairly burdened by environmental hazards such as garbage dumps, dangerous waste facilities and other forms of environmental pollution that result in adverse effects on their lives. It is worth noting that the minority groups often bear the brunt of environmental injustice in the United States as their exposure to pollution always lead to health problems (Spears 171). Bullard argued that key environmental stakeholders in the United States always fail to formulate effective policies that can ensure healthy working conditions for the minority groups and enforcing tough regulatory controls for companies whose wastes are toxic to the neighborhoods.

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Geographic Equity

Environmental equity involves a situation where no certain group of people is burdened with environmental problems such as pollution and garbage dumping. Geographic equity encompasses the provision of environmental justice and fairness to the people regardless of their geographical location (Anguelovski 61). For instance, people are entitled to environmental fairness and appropriate policies without being disadvantaged by the environmental hazards because of their place of residence. It should be noted that environmental racism greatly undermines geographic equity as the minority groups, which are predominantly African Americans, are left exposed to toxic materials facilities. More critically, environmental racism is often perpetuated by key environmental stakeholders who implement vital policies and actions such as the evacuation of people from dangerous places when there is an occurrence of disasters such as floods (Spears 174). Also, geographic equity is undermined when people are not given adequate information about the vulnerability of their geographic location to disasters such as storms and earthquakes.

Procedural Equity

Procedural equity refers to a situation where fairness is exhibited in all the processes involved in promoting environmental justice to the minority groups in the US (Anguelovski 62). Further, this equity ensures that the disadvantaged groups are involved in the formulation of policies and procedures that would ultimately result in environmental fairness where people are less exposed to pollution and other environmental disasters like floods. Undoubtedly, procedural equity is significantly undermined by environmental racism, where due processes to promote environmental health are not followed. Moreover, the equity is undermined when proper assessment processes are not undertaken with the intention of causing harm to the minority group who are the potential victims of environmental hazards (Spears 176). Additionally, environmental racism always encourages the upset of established practices and techniques that can be utilized to promote procedural equity hence affecting the people.

Social Equity

Social equity refers to an environmental justice concept that encompasses fair treatment of the minority and disadvantaged groups and better still involving them in the formulation of policies that seek to entrench environmental benefits to the people regardless of their race, social status, and national origin (Anguelovski 63). Also, social equity promotes the involvement of the people to develop, implement, and enforce environmental laws that will address environmental injustices. It should be noted that environmental racism undermines social equity by segregating the people along with the racial and social status and discouraging their involvement in the formulation and implementation of policies that can assist in curbing environmental hazards.

The recent example of environmental racism is when the state of Alabama allowed a massive landfill site comprising of large tons of coal cash that operates in the neighborhoods of Uniontown largely dominated by African Americans. Notably, this environmental racism undermined geographic equity by encouraging a polluting facility to operate among the predominantly black population (Spears 177). Moreover, procedural equity was undermined as dues processes were not followed when the facility was being set up. Also, environmental racism undermined social equity as the African Americans in Uniontown were exposed to pollution because of their racial and social status.

Bullard's Proposal

Robert Bullard proposed that the communities should appreciate the fact they should adopt a collective approach to ensure that environmental racism is adequately addressed (Bullard et al. 4). Further, he proposed that political leaders should enact laws and implement policies that will guarantee their fair application across the country without segregation, along with racial and social status. He opined that elimination of environmental racism would inevitably curtail pollution and other forms of environmental hazards and hence ensure sustainable development in the United States.

Bullard's Proposed Principle of Environmental Justice

Notably, Bullard proposed the environmental justice principle that promotes the development of public policy that is anchored on mutual respect and fairness to all people regardless of their race and social status (Anguelovski 64). More importantly, he believed that the principle would save the lives of minority groups, such as African Americans, from being subjected to discrimination (Bullard et al. 6). It should be noted that this principle would play an integral role in addressing geographic inequity that has resulted in the discrimination of the minority groups based on their geographical location. Additionally, the proposed principle would guarantee the utilization of different techniques and procedures that would fix the procedural inequity (Spears 179). In the same vein, the principle would ensure that social inequity is addressed by discouraging discrimination based on the racial and social status of the minority groups.

Critical Evaluation

Understandably, Bullard's proposed principle is vital as it revolves around the public policy that would help in fostering fairness among the people in the United States (Spears 182). Furthermore, the principle would promote the critical assessment of different policies that will curtail the environmental racism in the country. Better still, the proposed principle has cemented mutual respect among the people, and that has allowed them to take a collective effort in entrenching environmental justice. Also, the principle has made a significant contribution by creating a just society that values different racial and social statuses of other people and hence promoting sustainable development (Spears 186).

Conclusion

It is instructive to note that environmental racism often results in adverse effects ton minority groups such as African Americans in the United States. More significantly, environmental racism often stems from poor policies and deep-rooted discrimination against a certain class of people. Environmental justice proponents such as Robert Bullard have made significant contributions to curbing environmental racism that continues to affect the disadvantaged people in the United States. Also, environmental injustice is often encouraged by key environmental stakeholders who make little effort in developing and implementing policies that can assist in addressing environmental racism. It should be noted that political leaders have the responsibility of ensuring that they are actively involved in enacting laws that will discourage discrimination of the minority groups. Moreover, they should adopt environmental practices and promoting regulatory controls that will discourage some facilities from perpetuating geographic, procedural, and social inequity.

Works Cited

Anguelovski, Isabelle. "Environmental justice." Degrowth. Routledge, 2014, pp. 61-64. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203796146/chapters/10.4324/9780203796146-13

Bullard, Dr, et al. "Climate Change and Environmental Justice: A Conversation with Dr. Robert Bullard." Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis 5.2, 2016, pp. 3-6. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/jctp/vol5/iss2/3/

Spears, Ellen Griffith. "(Re) Writing Histories of Environmentalism in Alabama." Alabama Review 70.2, 2017, pp.171-188. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/665116/summary