Over the years, the poor and people of color are always treated badly by others. They mostly lived in polluted environments which negatively affect the way they live and work. In these communities, the placement of waste facilities emitted large amounts of chemical pollutants into the air. Any individual exposed to pollutants increases the chance of getting sick because it poses a huge threat to their health. The sudden environmental changes caused by landfills and industrial plants triggered countless environmental justice movements. Activists like Emelda West fighting environmental injustice attempts to find ways to create public awareness about their community. Despite dozens of companies deliberately building hazardous facilities in Convent,
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According to Emelda West, she “witnessed [her] community undergo a transformation: from one made up primarily of sugar cane plantations to one heavily dominated, and devastated, by the petrochemical industry” (Bullard & Smith, p.68). Before waste facilities were placed in her community, the environment was very clean. Thousands of people living in Convent worked at sugar cane plantations, but everything changed when companies moved into their community. The effects of landfills and industrial plants brought harmful substances to contaminate the environment and cause people to develop diseases. Emelda West could not stand to see people in her community to suffer anymore, so she decides to join protests and environmental justice movements to make sure people are aware of the problems and difficulties they are having. According to Bullard & Smith, Emelda West “joined the struggle against the Japanese company because environmental justice in Convent was long overdue. The Shintech struggle was an environmental justice case because African Americans and poor people in Convent would be disproportionately affected by the plant siting” (p.70). She has strong moral values and is determined to do anything to fight for human rights of all
According to Emelda West, she “witnessed [her] community undergo a transformation: from one made up primarily of sugar cane plantations to one heavily dominated, and devastated, by the petrochemical industry” (Bullard & Smith, p.68). Before waste facilities were placed in her community, the environment was very clean. Thousands of people living in Convent worked at sugar cane plantations, but everything changed when companies moved into their community. The effects of landfills and industrial plants brought harmful substances to contaminate the environment and cause people to develop diseases. Emelda West could not stand to see people in her community to suffer anymore, so she decides to join protests and environmental justice movements to make sure people are aware of the problems and difficulties they are having. According to Bullard & Smith, Emelda West “joined the struggle against the Japanese company because environmental justice in Convent was long overdue. The Shintech struggle was an environmental justice case because African Americans and poor people in Convent would be disproportionately affected by the plant siting” (p.70). She has strong moral values and is determined to do anything to fight for human rights of all