Being a white male and growing up in a mainly white town has made it difficult for me to detect racism, and nearly impossible to figure out ways to combat it. It is clear however, that racism exists in our world. Despite the fact that almost everyone would deny being a racist, no one can deny the fact that there are clear economic inequalities in this and other countries based on race. Not surprisingly, there are more than economic factors at work here, the
environment is now suffering as an effect of racism.
Communities of people of color have long been looked upon as the dumping grounds for the industrialized world's poisons, pollutants, and toxic wastes. The racism that used to exist in order to make plantation owners wealthy now exists to make corporations wealthy. And even though there are huge national and international "green" movements working hard to protect the environment from careless companies, environmental racism exists within the groups themselves as well as outside them.
The situation is just as bad within our own borders. Poor neighborhoods usually inhabited by African Americans are more likely than wealthy areas to be near environmental threats. Simply put, the reason for this uneven distribution of toxic living conditions is that the poor usually lack the political connections or initiatives needed to stop companies from polluting their backyards.
sustainably inhabited these areas for hundreds of years environmental
ental discrimination's largest effects can be seen on an international level based not only on race, but social class as well. The poorest countries on the earth are the ones that suffer the most. This may not be surprising given the globalization of capitalism. What is surprising is the richest countries are actually paying the poor ones to suffer. Industrialized nations
Minorities are also underrepresented on the other side of the environmental issue. Some of the companies that work to fight environmental racism are guilty of it in a different way. Why is it that al
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