Environmental Racism In Africa

After reading many post on the discussion board, I became very interested in conducting more research on the environmental damages currently taking place in our society as a result of “environmental racism”. One thing I found out was the level at which underdeveloped countries were being treated as a dumping ground for chemical waste in the world today. Environmental racism, which constitutes uneven exposure to hazards and the methodical exclusion of society from environmental and ethical assessment pose a serious threat to poor communities because they have long been unreasonably exposed to the pollutants and harmful chemical substances. I strongly believe that there should be a fair amount of trade-offs society can cope with as to prevent …show more content…
While it is true that Africa experienced colonialism, it has been engulfed with a new form of corruption; oppression and environmental racism is being committed by multi- national corporations and using African countries as a dumping ground for hazardous and toxic products. For example, a few years ago the Ivory Coast was engulfed with environmental pollution by toxic waste dumped by industrialized nations. Toxic materials ended up in the backyard of poor Ivorian citizens by a multi-national Swiss corporation whose headquarters are based in an industrialized nation. This environmental waste led to the killing of many people in the country. This act is a perfect example of why I decided to conduct more research on the topic.
In order to break the chain of environmental racism in society, community participation in environmental planning should be a priority that empowers citizens to voice their opinion and seek environmental justice through a competent court of jurisdiction. If this is achieved, the issue of accountability will be taken seriously when environmental laws are violated. This will also empower societies to hold their leaders accountable for their decisions if there is a question of influence or conflict of interest with multinational …show more content…
Due to corruption, toxic chemical wastes are often dumped without the knowledge of the society which constitutes high level environmental racism. For example, “…high level of corruption is prevalent in sub-Saharan African countries, hence government officials, both elected and appointed, can easily be bribed to surreptitiously import toxic waste into their countries. The unregulated dumping of toxic waste on the Kassa Island in Guinea involved the collaboration of a Guinean company and the complicity of some officials of the country’s Ministry of Trade” (eoearth.org). It is vital to plainly state that the implementation of policy is the greatest problem that we are faced with today. It tells us that society lacks the willpower to make necessary trade-offs because of greed that continues to affect the system. This is a global problem and not a problem for people of color, or merely an African problem, but one that requires larger global attention. To solve this problem, society and governments should involve the public and private sectors’ participation that seeks to assist in finding solutions to environmental problems, inequality and injustices that continue to affect poorer communities around the world. If policies are made and implemented by enforcing environmental justice and ethical principles, humanity will benefit