INTRODUCTION:
For years people of color have been disproportionately affected by environmental hazards. There are many reasons why people of color are more susceptible to environmental hazards. In simplest terms, the main reason for this injustice is environmental racism. Environmental racism can be described as environmental health discrimination based on race, mostly low income communities of color (Shelton & Miller, 2016). Environmental discrimination can take the form of placing waste facilities, chemical plants, incinerators, or buildings that can be detrimental to people’s health, in low income communities (CITE). The term was first created in the 1980s to describe how blacks were disportionately affected by pollution to their air, water, and soil (Eligon). These environmental hazards can have various effects to human health. In Robert D. Bullard’s book, “Dumping in Dixie”, Blum describes the health issues caused by environmental hazards as “diseases of adaptation” (Bullard, 2000, p. 7). Diseases of …show more content…
According to Bullard (2000), he states that throughout history “toxic dumping and the location of locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) have followed the ‘path of least resistance’” (p. 3). The path of least resistance can be described as community the waste facilities targets because they’re less likely to fight back. Additionally, what led to people of color being the path of least resistance is that NIMBYism is predominantly in white affluent communities (Erickson, 2016). NIMBY stands for “Not In My Backyard” and it’s an organizational group that protests the placement of hazardous sites in their neighborhoods. Because of NIMBYism being more common in white affluent communities, it makes it easier for hazardous facilities to take the path of resistance and place their LULUs in communities of
For years people of color have been disproportionately affected by environmental hazards. There are many reasons why people of color are more susceptible to environmental hazards. In simplest terms, the main reason for this injustice is environmental racism. Environmental racism can be described as environmental health discrimination based on race, mostly low income communities of color (Shelton & Miller, 2016). Environmental discrimination can take the form of placing waste facilities, chemical plants, incinerators, or buildings that can be detrimental to people’s health, in low income communities (CITE). The term was first created in the 1980s to describe how blacks were disportionately affected by pollution to their air, water, and soil (Eligon). These environmental hazards can have various effects to human health. In Robert D. Bullard’s book, “Dumping in Dixie”, Blum describes the health issues caused by environmental hazards as “diseases of adaptation” (Bullard, 2000, p. 7). Diseases of …show more content…
According to Bullard (2000), he states that throughout history “toxic dumping and the location of locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) have followed the ‘path of least resistance’” (p. 3). The path of least resistance can be described as community the waste facilities targets because they’re less likely to fight back. Additionally, what led to people of color being the path of least resistance is that NIMBYism is predominantly in white affluent communities (Erickson, 2016). NIMBY stands for “Not In My Backyard” and it’s an organizational group that protests the placement of hazardous sites in their neighborhoods. Because of NIMBYism being more common in white affluent communities, it makes it easier for hazardous facilities to take the path of resistance and place their LULUs in communities of