Racism is a prevalent issue in our society because it seeps into every social, political, economic, moral, ethical, judicial and even environmental issue.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, racism, is “any action, practice, or belief that reflects the racial worldview—the ideology that humans may be divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called ‘races’; that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and traits of personality, intellect, morality, and other cultural and behavioural features; and that some races are innately superior to others. Since the late 20th century the notion of biological race has been recognized as a cultural invention, entirely without scientific basis”. Everyone has a clear sense of what racism is and what racism looks like.
However, not a lot of people know what environmental racism is because environmental racism is a fairly new concept that was introduced in the late 20th century. According to the Oxford University Press, environmental racism is an American term, which was first used by The Washington Post in late 1980’s. The definition of environmental racism is the “racial discrimination in the development and implementation of environmental policy, especially as manifested in the concentration of hazardous waste disposal sites in or near areas with a relatively large ethnic minority population”. The notion of environmental racism was born in the United States, when environmental activists, local minorities and other scientists noticed a harrowing trend of minorities being exposed to environmental hazards such as pollution at a higher rate, than compared to the Caucasian population of America.
One of the latest cases publicized in the media of environmental racism occurred in Flint, Michigan, where citizens of that city were drinking lead tainted water, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated as “toxic waste”. From April 2014, Flint city switched its water supply from Michigan’s Lake Huron to their own Flint River supply in order to save money. Researchers noticed that Flint River has 19 times more chemically corrosive water than Lake Huron. Additionally, the piping system of Flint River was tainted with lead as well, thus increasing the toxicity of the water. Noticeably, the city of Flint has a 57% of African American population, who are notably impoverished. Furthermore, the response of the local, state and federal government was extremely slow, until the media publicized this issue.
A global issue of environmental racism is the fact that Global North countries such as the USA, Canada and the EU send their waste to Global South countries for disposal. This affects the local communities of those countries, who have to work in unsanitary environment to pick and sort trash for a living. Children as young as 10 years old have to pick or sort different types of metals, clothing, e-waste and recyclables in order to make little wage to support themselves or even their families as well. In order to manage waste from our land, we have continuously dumped waste in Global South countries such as India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Philippines. We did this to not accumulate waste in our backyard. The concept of nimbyism, meaning “not in my backyard” has caused us to pollute the backyards and communities of minorities or disadvantaged citizens of the world.
Whether we see it or not, whether we hear it or not, and whether we like it or not, environmental racism exists. The production of goods, the consumption of goods and the disposal of waste from our consumption is only achieved at a cheaper rate through environmental racism. Environmental racism is embedded in the production of goods, as factories have moved to countries with lax environmental and human health regulations. Environmental racism exist as minorities, children and disadvantaged populations cheaply produce goods for little wage in dangerous working conditions. Environmental racism exists in the disposal of waste once we have finished consuming products because that waste is dumped in Global South countries, where it’s citizens and even its leaders will accept toxic waste to increase the economic productivity of their country.
As consumers, we have the power to reduce environmental racism by buying products that are ethically sourced and made. We have the power to voice our concerns to manufacturers in creating ethically sourced goods to ensure that environmental sustainability is achieved and environmental racism is reduced. We have to not only care for our planet’s sustainability, but we have to care about the human toll our unsustainable and unethical consumption takes on the disadvantaged population of the world.
By Abdeali Saherwala
Please note that opinions expressed are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page
