ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM/ ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Number
Date
Environmental Racism in Harlem Since 2004
According to research study discussed in this essay, there is some environmental protective laws and regulation that are drawn along racial lines. In the Upper Side of the Bronx, ecological burdens are disproportionately distributed on racial and ethnic minorities in their places of work or residence. Back in the ancient days, people of color would be used in industries especially in sections with toxic and hazardous substances. The main purpose of this essay is to ascertain that environmental racism is still a major crisis because the people of color in Upper side of Bronx, as well as the minority, are discriminated in making ecological decision and the marginalized people are not involved in environmental movements in industries, and there is need to ensure environmental justice at all times. .
To start with, the root of this problem can be traced back in the colonial period. That is the era when colonialists would dispossess the people of color their homelands, and expelled them from the national park and wilderness for the benefit of vacationers and ecologists like John Muir. The African American community, they were used as slaves for the expropriation of ecological understanding. According to Syed (588), the people of color and the ethnic minorities have faced much more environmental hazards because they comprise of the largest number of the urban working class in Harlem since 2004.

In their workplaces, they are more exposed to toxic dangers in the industrial society (Rasmussen, 03). Also, Industrial wastes in this side of Harlem cause the increase in asthma cases. In my opinion, the fact that they are excluded from mainstream environmental movements, such that they cannot fight for their rights, makes the problem much more serious.
The research hypothesis in this issue makes it clear that key movements have continued to refine the meaning of environmental racism as part of the present-day movement for environmental justice (Syed, 588). Smith (18) says that the real transformative event was the popular demonstration against the intended harmful waste dump for 40, 000 cubic yards of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)-contaminated soil in 2005. The October 22 to November 02 Hurricane Sandy disaster in 2012 and the fact that it hit some parts of New York more raise questions. In 2013 and 2014, the prevalence of environmental disasters as well as high rates of contamination and toxins in Harlem transformed the whole situation into a political issue. I think the authoritarian institutionalized organizations should be started in Harlem to ensure the minorities and the people of color are treated like any other citizen.
Study results show that there are three essential dimensions of environmental justice in Harlem; distributive, participatory and recognition. With distributive dimension, it is evident that governments official are the ones that determine where toxic facilities are located, and also ensure that they compensated. From the results of a 2010 study in Harlem, government officials determine the remediation process regarding the cultural, religious and socioeconomic characteristics of a community (MacLean, 602. As of 2009, the likelihood of children contracting asthma in the upper eastern side of Harlem was three times that of the upper west. Upper East Side of Harlem is home to many waste-processing plants that process more than half of the commercial wastes in the city. The high rates of asthma cases among children in Upper East Harlem raise suspicion. According to the results of a UCC study report in 2007, there are saturation strategies against colored and poor people in America (Smith, 18). I believe the high rates of asthma cases are due to exposure to industrial waste and to curb the issue, dumping ought to be done far from the places of residence.
Therefore, the analysis here points to the fact that when a toxic waste facility is installed in or near a community, there are higher chances that more facilities will be set up considerably. In areas that happen to have more than one waste facility or those near America’s five leading landfills, the minority percentage is more than three times triple that of neighborhoods without the facilities (Figueroa, 341). In 2005, Hurricane Katrina uncovered the dirty little secrets of high vulnerability in some communities, poor response to disasters and unequal protection by race in both Harlem and Los Angeles. Most of the early cases discussed in this essay challenge the unfair allotment of ecological burdens on communities inhabited by the poor and the minority. MacLean (602) claims that although noteworthy advances in Harlem have been made since the mid-19th century, environmental racism is still a reality. In my opinion, the efforts are yet to bear fruits and more organizations could be the best solution.
It is recommendable that grassroots organizations educate the public on environmental racism and Justice. By doing so, they will have enlightened them on what is going on, and how the issues can affect them. Once they are educated, they should start showing up in government and council meetings and do so in large numbers. Practically it is the best way to ensure that decision-making is not only left to selected majorities (Rasmussen, 05). It would also be very wise to combat racism in general before majoring in combating environmental racism.
In summary, the essay has successfully discussed the Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice problem, background, hypothesis, results, analysis and recommendation. It is also enlightening to understand that the issue of deliberate or unintended racial discrimination in environmental decision-making, as well as failure to include people of color in environmental movements in industries is still a menace today just like during the colonial period. The people of color and the ethnic minorities have faced much more environmental hazards because they comprise of the largest number of the urban working class in New York. Many of the factors that have been promoting uneven burden of exposure to the environmental hazards among marginalized communities’ industrial workers since 2004 to present are both systemic and historic in nature.
Work Cited
Figueroa, Robert Melchior. “Environmental Justice.”Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy.Ed. J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman.Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009. 341-348. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web. 25 Nov. 2016.
MacLean, Alair.”Environmental Racism.”Environmental Encyclopedia.4th ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 605-606. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web. 25 Nov. 2016.
Rasmussen, Larry. “Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice: Moral Theory in the Making?.” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics (2004): 3-28.
Smith, Kimberly K. “African–American Environmental Ethics.” Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy.Ed. J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman.Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009. 18-20. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web. 25 Nov. 2016.
Syed, Jawad. “Environmental Justice.”Green Cities: An A-to-Z Guide. Ed. Nevin Cohen and Paul Robbins. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2011. 176-179. The SAGE Reference Series on Green Society: Toward a Sustainable Future. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web. 25 Nov. 2016.