Editing Environmental racism (section)

{{Short description|Environmental injustice that occurs within a racialized context}}
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[[File:Flint Water Crisis.jpg|thumb|People protesting the [[Flint water crisis|water crisis in Flint, Michigan]], which disproportionately affected people of color and low-income communities]]

'''Environmental racism''', '''ecological racism''', or '''ecological apartheid''' is a form of [[racism]] leading to negative environmental outcomes such as landfills, [[Incineration|incinerators]], and [[hazardous waste]] disposal disproportionately impacting [[Community of color|communities of color]], violating [[substantive equality]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=BULLARD |first=ROBERT D. |date=2003 |title=Confronting Environmental Racism in the 21st Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41554377 |journal=Race, Poverty & the Environment |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=49–52 |jstor=41554377 |issn=1532-2874}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite journal | last1 = Bullard | first1 = Robert D | year = 2001 | title = Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters | journal = Phylon | volume = 49 | issue = 3–4| pages = 151–171 | doi = 10.2307/3132626 | jstor = 3132626}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dinc |first1=Pinar |title=Environmental Racism and Resistance in Kurdistan |journal=The Commentaries |date=28 March 2022 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=39–48 |doi=10.33182/tc.v2i1.2189 |url=https://journals.tplondon.com/com/article/view/2189 |language=en |issn=2754-8805|doi-access=free }}</ref> Internationally, 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.<ref name=":2" />

Environmental racism is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards, pollution, and ecological degradation experienced by marginalized communities, as well as those of people of color.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eligon |first=John |date=January 21, 2016 |title=A Question of Environmental Racism in Flint |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/us/a-question-of-environmental-racism-in-flint.html}}</ref> Race, socio-economic status, and environmental injustice directly impact these communities in terms of their health outcomes as well as their quality of health. Communities are not all created equal. In the United States, some communities are continuously polluted while the government gives little to no attention. According to Robert D. Bullard, father of environmental justice, environmental regulations are not equally benefiting all of society; people of color (African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans) are disproportionately harmed by industrial toxins in their jobs and their neighborhoods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bullard |first=Robert D. |title=Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots |publisher=South End Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-89608-446-9 |editor-last=Bullard |editor-first=Robert D. |location=Boston, Massachusetts |pages=15–39 |chapter=Anatomy of Environmental Racism and the Environmental Justice Movement}}</ref> Within this context, understanding the intersectionality of race, socio-economic status, and environmental injustice through its history and the disproportionate impact is a starting point for leaning towards equitable solutions for environmental justice for all segments of society. Exploring the historical roots, impacts of environmental racism, governmental actions, grassroots efforts, and possible remedies can serve as a foundation for addressing this issue effectively.

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 group]]s or numerical majorities, as in South Africa where [[apartheid]] had debilitating environmental impacts on Black people. Internationally, [[Global waste trade|trade in global waste]] disadvantages global majorities in poorer countries largely inhabited by people of color.<ref name=":2" /> It also applies to the particular [[vulnerability]] of indigenous groups to environmental [[pollution]].<ref name="ecoapart">{{cite journal |last1=Dixson |first1=Adrienne D. |last2=Donnor |first2=Jamel K. |last3=Anderson |first3=Celia Rousseau |title=Introduction to the Special Issue the Race for Educational Equity |journal=Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education |date=April 2011 |volume=113 |issue=4 |pages=699–702 |doi=10.1177/016146811111300405 |s2cid=149421422 |language=en |issn=0161-4681|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Reinhold |title=Abolish Oil |journal=Places Journal |date=16 June 2020 |issue=2020 |doi=10.22269/200616 |s2cid=240984268 |url=https://placesjournal.org/article/abolish-oil/ |access-date=1 October 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref> Environmental racism is a form of institutional racism, which has led to the [[Disproportionation|disproportionate]] disposal of hazardous waste in communities of color 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-15 |title=Environmental racism: Research, current events, and global impact |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/environmental-racism |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=www.medicalnewstoday.com |language=en}}</ref>
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