Environmental Issue Project - Final Draft

Environmental Issue- Racism in U. S

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Institution

Environmental Issue- Racism in U. S

Racism and related stereotypical depictions is rampant in the U. S and includes all acts of brutality by police on blacks and Asians and other senseless acts against the minority in the society. Racism has had many impacts on the formulation and implementation of environmental policies related to public service, agriculture, land use and settlement. This has caused settlement zones of the whites, blacks and other low income minority groups in the country (Zimring, 2017). The estates near power plants that are coal-fired in the U. S, are occupied by mostly the African Americans, Latinos and other low income groups. The highest white populations resides in the major towns and cities. Other observations show that many of the populations in the dump-site zones in the U. S are African American populations (Taylor, 2014). Coal-plants and dump-sites are health hazards. Locating such facilities in the zones occupied by minority groups, Latinos and African American is uncalled for. Such racist policies of zoning and land use planning jeopardizes the abilities and legitimacy of the minority and black to fight for their rights. The policies exposes them on environmental health hazards like pollution and emerging diseases caused by unhealthy environment. This increases their mortality rates and incidences of chronic diseases which couples the forces that lowers their living standard. These groups are less likely to gain financial clout which can help them challenge the pollution activities in their surroundings (Cunningham, 2017). Getting government agencies to fight for them against companies that violate environmental laws is difficulty. Racism has caused the fight for environmental sanity in these populations surrounding a nightmare. Legal aid are unaffordable while the Attorney may negotiate the settlement gains that will end up in their pockets and not to benefit the populations (Taylor, 2014). The remedy to this has been local activism and lobbying. Other locals have taken to the streets protesting the power structures, confronting them with legal actions and civil disobedience. This has been seen to open avenues for public participation in policy formulation and implementation (Cunningham, 2017). 

References

Cunningham, A. (2017). Environmental racism and classism. New York, NY: Greenhaven Publishing.

Taylor, D. E. (2014). Toxic communities: environmental racism, industrial pollution, and residential mobility. New York: New York University Press.

Zimring, C. A. (2017). Clean and White: a history of environmental racism in the United States. New York: New York University Press.