scholarly journals The Intersection of Race, Immigration Status, and Environmental Justice

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3942 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pellow ◽  
Jasmine Vazin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Immigrant Detention

Environmental injustice occurs when marginalized groups face disproportionate environmental impacts from a range of threats. Environmental racism is a particular form of environmental injustice and frequently includes the implementation of policies, regulations, or institutional practices that target communities of color for undesirable waste sites, zoning, and industry. One example of how the United States federal and state governments are currently practicing environmental racism is in the form of building and maintaining toxic prisons and immigrant detention prisons, where people of color and undocumented persons are the majority of inmates and detainees who suffer disproportionate health risk and harms. This article discusses the historical and contemporary conditions that have shaped the present political landscape of racial and immigration conflicts and considers those dynamics in the context of the literature on environmental justice. Case studies are then presented to highlight specific locations and instances that exemplify environmental injustice and racism in the carceral sector. The article concludes with an analysis of the current political drivers and motivations contributing to these risks and injustices, and ends with a discussion of the scale and depth of analysis required to alleviate these impacts in the future, which might contribute to greater sustainability among the communities affected.

The Comparative Politics of Environmental Justice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kemi Fuentes-George
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Close Association ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Environmental Advocacy

Although the terms “environmental justice” and “environmental racism” emerged due to race-based mobilization in the United States, justice is a constant feature of environmental struggles around the world. Pursuing social justice in environmental advocacy can be difficult, but case studies of activism in places including New Zealand, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, and the United States show that it is possible. Environmental injustice emerges when populations that are already politically and socioeconomically marginalized disproportionately bear the costs of environmental consumption, and they are often systematically excluded from the benefits of this consumption. Although different political systems vary in how they structure marginalization, this close association of social injustice with environmental injustice characterizes cases like fossil fuel extraction in industrialized countries and agricultural development in the Global South alike. While skeptics have argued that promoting environmentalism is counterproductive to social justice, because environmental regulations often constrain economic growth, combining the two can lead to more sustainable environmental practices.

Victimization, Cultural Imperatives, and Empowerment of People of Color in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 173-190
Author(s):  
Tamanna M. Shah
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Crimes Against Women

The high incidence of violent crimes in the United States of America, which include mass shootings, hate crimes, Islam bashing, murders, extortion, crimes against women and children, and white supremacist crimes, witnessed in last few years is a cause for great concern. The land of liberty is lately seeing increasing victimization of deprived or socially unempowered groups. This chapter looks at such victimization and the cultural supremacy that is giving rise to ethnic strife among people. It is argued that robust and well-evolved policies will reduce crime and empower marginalized groups, a majority of whom are women and children. The empowerment—social, cultural, economic, and political—and recognition of the challenge of victimization is the only solution. There is a need to recognize the egalitarian impulses for a better policy formulation devoid of prejudice to craft a secure future for the victims.

scholarly journals The Search for Environmental Justice: The Story of North Birmingham

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauntice Allen ◽  
Michelle V. Fanucchi ◽  
Lisa C. McCormick ◽  
Kristina M. Zierold
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Jefferson County ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Department Of Health

Environmental justice is a rising social movement throughout the world. Research is beginning to define the movement and address the disparities that exist among communities exposed to pollution. North Birmingham, a community made up of six neighborhoods in Jefferson County, Alabama, in the United States, is a story of environmental injustice. Heavy industry, including the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, has caused significant environmental pollution over time, leaving residents concerned that their health and well-being are at risk from continued exposure. For years, pollution has impacted the community, and residents have fought and challenged industry and government. The United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) in Alabama have historically played a role in working with the community regarding their health concerns. In this manuscript, we describe a city entrenched in environmental injustice. We provide the history of the community, the responsible parties named for the contamination, the government’s involvement, and the community’s response to this injustice. Through this manuscript, we offer insight into a global concern that challenges local communities on a daily basis.

scholarly journals Assessing the Integration of Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Practice: A Review of the Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11238
Author(s):  
Susan Spierre Clark ◽  
Monica Lynn Miles
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
The Us ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Just Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Movement

The environmental justice (EJ) movement has been a key factor in the United States’ struggle to provide a healthy environment for all to thrive. The origins of the movement date as far back as the 1960’s, led primarily by people of color and low economic status communities living in America’s most polluted environments. More recently, the just sustainability movement calls for the inclusion of EJ considerations, including social justice, equity, and human rights, into sustainability science and initiatives. Whereas previous work has elucidated synergies between both concepts, this paper provides a literature review of studies that apply the concepts of EJ and sustainability in the US to inform ways in which the concepts are merging (or not) for practical applications. The primary objectives of this review are (1) to identify the common themes in which EJ and sustainability are applied, (2) to qualitatively assess the progression of the integration of these important movements in practical applications, and (3) to inform research gaps that exist in this area. In general, we find that despite the increasing conceptual emphasis on the need to integrate these important concepts, the reviewed scholarship reveals that in practice, the integration of EJ and sustainability remains piecemeal.

scholarly journals Discourses of Race & Racism Within Environmental Justice Studies: An Eco-racial Intervention

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perlita R. Dicochea
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Social Force ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Justice Studies

<p>The social force of racism in relation to natural resources plays a prominent role in the development of environmental justice (EJ) studies within the United States. I contend that the dominant paradigm of environmental racism (ER) may encourage superficial applications of race and racism and colorblind approaches to EJ. I argue that race and racism are at times essentialized, which has in part to do with essentialized notions of the environment. The goal of this eco-racial intervention is to encourage more explicit engagement with the dynamic ways that society creates meaning around and makes use of race and natural resources in relation to each other, processes that may include and operate beyond conventional and critical approaches to ER. Spirited by critical ER and racial formation theory, I propose the construct ‘eco-racial justice project’ as part of an alternative framework for evaluating racialization within efforts to achieve environmental justice.</p>

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 250-252
Author(s):  
Jim Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
The People ◽  
Immigrant Policies

This chapter cites the statement of rebellion drafted by a group of revolutionaries in the late eighteenth century. It highlights the need to address the Declaration of Interdependence following the severe challenges that the United States face today. The chapter asserts that we are far more interdependent than we are independent, and our lives are all deeply interconnected within a web of both obvious and not-so-obvious threads. It evaluates how education inequities, mass criminalization, anti-immigrant policies, and other racial justice issues do not just harm those who attend the underresourced schools, suffer the effects of overpolicing, and face the prospect of being deported. The chapter recognizes that addressing those issues does not just help the people of color who have the burden of systemic racism lifted off them, but also everyone is in a position to benefit when communities of color are able to live higher-quality lives and the rot of injustice is purged from the public systems.

Environmental Injustice in the United States: Myths and Realities. By James P. Lester, David W. Allen, and Kelly M. Hill. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2000. 216p. $19.00.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-213
Author(s):  
Michael E. Kraft
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Equity ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Hard Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Pertinent Data ◽  
Considerable Debate

Over the past decade the study of environmental justice has sparked considerable debate, with conflict often exacerbated by conceptual and definitional muddles, scarcity of pertinent data, and disagreement over which methods to employ. This book by the late James Lester and his colleagues is unlikely to diminish the controversy. Yet, as a comprehensive attempt to clear out the conceptual underbrush and bring hard data to bear on difficult empirical questions, the book merits attention by all those concerned with issues of environmental equity. The preliminary findings have been presented at conferences from 1994 on, and many are already familiar with this research. As the authors note, however, they began with a skeptical posture toward the strident assertions made regarding environmental justice. In the end, they reconsidered that position and found much evidence to support concern over environmental inequities in U.S. society.

The Racism Profiteers

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-34
Author(s):  
Jim Freeman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Corporate America ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Immigrant Policies

This chapter begins by recounting the experiences of Anna Jones, Carlil Pittman, and Mónica Acosta who endured a persistent emotional and psychological torture that comes from the knowledge that their lives, or the lives of their children, are not valued as much as others. It analyses how the systemic racial injustice affects communities of color across the United States, and persuades more people to listen to what people of color are saying about the challenges they face and how they should be addressed. The chapter also discusses that the residents of the communities of color share a set of common experiences, some of which are similar to the predominantly white communities, and some of which are remarkably different. The chapter then describes how, and why, ultra-wealthy leaders from Corporate America and Wall Street are the driving force behind many of the public policies that uphold systemic racism and cause severe harm to communities of color across the country. It unveils how the nation's mass criminalization and incarceration system can be traced back to the leaders of many of the largest and best-known corporations in the United States, Wall Street banks, private prison companies, and the Kochs' network of ultra-wealthy allies. Ultimately, the chapter explores how many of the same individuals and organizations have played a significant role in the creation of the extreme anti-immigrant policies that have plagued millions of migrants for decades.

Defeating Goliath

2021 ◽  
pp. 221-249
Author(s):  
Jim Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
National Priority ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Constitution

This chapter begins with the introduction of a small group of racism profiteers who has been aggressively implementing an agenda that, while enormously beneficial for them, has been devastating to communities of color. The chapter recalls how the ultra-wealthy engaged in rampant profiteering off the privatization of national security functions, mirroring the dynamics around the privatization of education, criminal justice, and immigration enforcement. The chapter also recognizes that the most pressing social problems and racial justice are not only the fight of people of color, but rather the fight of all. The chapter then illustrates how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Koch network, and other billionaires and multimillionaires are leading efforts to make substantial changes to, and perhaps completely rewrite, the US Constitution. Ultimately, the chapter addresses how the implementation of a Student Bill of Rights and a comprehensive youth development agenda is eminently feasible if the United States finally makes the education of all children a national priority.

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