Environmental Racism

Home > History by Field > Environmental justice history > Environmental Racism

The disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on communities of color and low-income communities.

Definition of Environmental Racism: A comprehensive overview of the concept of environmental racism, including its definition, roots, and contemporary applications.
Historical Origins of Environmental Racism: A review of the historical circumstances and beliefs that led to the rise of environmental racism, including examples from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Environmental Justice Movement: A summary of the environmental justice movement's origins, objectives, and methods of advocacy, as well as some significant historical events.
Social Inequities and Environmental Racism: A discussion of the social inequities that shape the distribution of environmental burdens and benefits, as well as their impact on different communities.
Environmental Racism and Public Health: A survey of the health implications of environmental racism, including its impact on reproduction and the prevalence of environmental-related diseases.
Environmental Regulations: An overview of the laws and regulations governing environmental protection, including their successes and limitations, as well as the role they play in perpetuating environmental racism.
Environmental Racism and Climate Change: An examination of the intersection of environmental racism and climate change, including the disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color.
Environmental Justice and Indigenous Peoples: A study of the unique challenges that indigenous peoples experience regarding environmental justice, including challenges to cultural practices and the struggle for rights and recognition.
Environmental Racism and Urbanization: A discussion of the impact of urbanization on environmental racism, including the social, economic, and political factors that play a role.
Challenges to Environmental Justice: An analysis of the challenges facing the movement for environmental justice, including the continuing resistance to change and the complexities of overcoming systemic oppression.
Intersectionality and Environmental Racism: A consideration of how intersectionality, the interconnectedness and interdependence of various forms of oppression, informs the experience and perpetuation of environmental racism.
Global Environmental Justice: A review of the international efforts to address environmental justice issues, including the role of the United Nations and international legal frameworks.
Environmental Racism and COVID-19: An examination of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental racism, including the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on marginalized communities.
Strategies for Environmental Justice: A review of the strategies used by the environmental justice movement to enact change, including grassroots organizing, advocacy, and alternative solutions.
Ecofeminism and Environmental Racism: An exploration of the intersection of ecofeminism and environmental racism, including a discussion of the ways in which environmental issues affect women, especially women of color.
Environmental Racism and Education: A consideration of the ways environmental racism can affect education, including school quality, access to educational opportunities, and the influence of environmental factors on student health and well-being.
Environmental Justice and the Law: An overview of the legal framework for addressing environmental justice issues, including current litigation strategies and the roles of public and private entities in shaping environmental policy.
Environmental Racism and Food Inequity: A consideration of the impact of environmental racism on access to healthy, safe, and nutritious foods, as well as the agricultural practices that contribute to environmental injustice.
Environmental Racism and Housing Inequities: An examination of the impact of environmental racism on housing inequities and housing quality, as well as the connections between poor housing and poor health outcomes.
Environmental Justice and the Impact on Future Generations: A discussion of how environmental injustice can have long-term effects on future generations and how the environmental justice movement can work towards more sustainable futures.
Toxic Waste Dumping: The intentional placement of hazardous waste disposal sites near communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.
Landfills: The location and management of landfills, which often cause environmental pollution and health hazards, near communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.
Water Pollution and Contamination: The contamination of water sources such as rivers, lakes, and streams which leads to health and environmental hazards, predominantly in communities of color.
Air Pollution: The release of toxic gases into the air through industrial processes, transportation, and agricultural practices disproportionately impacts communities of color.
Climate Change: The effects of climate change and associated factors such as global warming and natural disasters disproportionately affect vulnerable communities, mainly people of color and low-income neighborhoods.
Deforestation: The practice of cutting down trees and clearing forests negatively impacts the environment and undermines the health of communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.
Pesticides and Agrochemicals: Disproportionate exposure to pesticides and agrochemicals in industrial agriculture contributes to negative health consequences in rural and farm-working communities of color.
Mining and Extraction: Activities such as mining, oil drilling, and natural resource extraction disproportionately impact the surrounding communities, which are typically communities of color and low-income.
Poor Access to Environmental Information and Decision-making: Communities of color and low-income neighborhoods have less access to information, which hinders their participation and ability to influence decision-making related to environmental quality.
Urban Planning: Inadequate urban planning is a vital form of environmental racism. This manifests in the concentration of urban centers and amenities such as parks and recreational facilities in wealthy, predominantly white neighborhoods.
"Environmental racism, ecological racism or ecological apartheid is a form of institutional racism leading to landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionately placed in communities of color."
"It is also associated with extractivism, which places the environmental burdens of mining, oil extraction, and industrial agriculture upon indigenous peoples and poorer nations largely inhabited by people of color."
"Response to environmental racism has contributed to the environmental justice movement, which developed in the United States and abroad throughout the 1970s and 1980s."
"Environmental racism may disadvantage minority groups or numerical majorities, as in South Africa where apartheid had debilitating environmental impacts on Black people."
"Internationally, trade in global waste disadvantages global majorities in poorer countries largely inhabited by people of color."
"It also applies to the particular vulnerability of indigenous groups to environmental pollution."
"Environmental racism is a form of institutional racism, which has led to the disproportionate disposal of hazardous waste in communities of colour in Russia."
"Environmental racism is a type of inequality where people in Communities of Color and other low-income communities face a disproportionate risk of exposure to pollution and related health conditions."
"landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionately placed in communities of color."
"Extractivism places the environmental burdens of mining, oil extraction, and industrial agriculture upon indigenous peoples and poorer nations largely inhabited by people of color."
"The environmental justice movement developed in the United States and abroad throughout the 1970s and 1980s."
"Trade in global waste disadvantages global majorities in poorer countries largely inhabited by people of color."
"Environmental racism is a form of institutional racism, which has led to the disproportionate disposal of hazardous waste in communities of colour in Russia."
"Environmental racism may disadvantage minority groups or numerical majorities."
"Environmental racism may disadvantage minority groups or numerical majorities, as in South Africa where apartheid had debilitating environmental impacts on Black people."
"Extractivism, institutional racism, and global waste trade are among the factors contributing to environmental racism."
"The environmental justice movement aims to combat and address the inequalities and injustices caused by environmental racism."
"The environmental burdens of mining, oil extraction, and industrial agriculture are placed upon indigenous peoples."
"People in communities of color and low-income communities face a disproportionate risk of exposure to pollution and related health conditions due to environmental racism."
"Communities of color, indigenous peoples, and low-income communities are often the most affected by environmental racism."