Hi guys! This week I’ll be talking about environmental injustice.
If you recall, during Dr Coleman’s Week 9 lecture, she mentioned that environmental injustice and inequity worsened because of COVID-19. And that this was the case within nations as well as between nations. This sparked my interest in exploring the link between COVID-19 and environmental injustice.
In the past year, many events have occurred in the United States. This includes the Black Lives Matter movement, the controversy of how the Trump administration responded to the pandemic and their removal of various environmental regulations and the ongoing elections and, not to mention, Trump himself catching the virus. Hence, I was particularly captivated by this article by Katherine Bagley from YaleEnvironment360 (e360). The article covered an interview with Sacoby Wilson, an expert on environmental injustice. Today I’ll be sharing parts of the article that I was most struck by.
The interview talked about how people of colour in the US have suffered more from the pandemic than their caucasian counterparts. And that this was largely linked to the pre-existing environmental inequality between the two groups. Wilson highlighted that communities of colour tended to have higher air pollution in their residential areas. Exposure to greater air pollution was also linked to a greater likelihood of death upon contracting the virus. Learning of such a divide between the communities in something like air quality was eye opening. While I knew that people of colour were oppressed I was unaware that they suffered from environmental injustice as well.
Having read this, I was confused by how a difference in air pollution levels (and environmental injustice) could arise between the communities. This was cleared up in the next question where Wilson said that Caucasian communities tended to have greater political and economic power than people of colour. Highly polluting operations cannot be built in their community areas as they have the power to fight its construction. On the other hand, people of colour, who are already oppressed, are forced to bear with the construction of these operations in their communities.
I strongly encourage everyone to give the article a read. The fact that a first world country like the US had such severe environmental injustice within its borders was shocking. And it was saddening a to learn that in times like this, pre-existing environmental inequity has even more detrimental consequences.
Hi Rachel,
with the minorites lacking the power to fight the injustice themselves, do you think government officials should step in to help mitigate this inequality? Or should they place their hopes on social movements like the black lives matter to get more international support ?
-Jian Xi
Hi Jian Xi,
Wow that’s a tough one to answer! Personally I feel that governments are responsible in mitigating the inequality but I also understand that there are various factors that could cause a government to fail in doing so. Thanks for your comment!
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Great post overall, love how you showcase your reaction to this article.
That said, could I respectfully invite you to reassess the appropriateness of “first-world” as a term ? Academics no longer refer to nations this way and with good reason. Do engage your peers in conversation about this issue.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/01/04/372684438/if-you-shouldnt-call-it-the-third-world-what-should-you-call-it
https://www.history.com/news/why-are-countries-classified-as-first-second-or-third-world
https://metro.co.uk/2016/05/18/heres-why-you-shouldnt-use-the-term-developing-country-any-more-5890789/
Hi Dr Coleman!
Thanks for letting me know, I didn’t know about this change in terms and the articles were really eye-opening. Would “affluent” be a more appropriate term?
Rachel
Hi Rachel!
Thanks for the great read. I understand that people of colour has to suffer with poorer air quality in the US. However, are there any solutions to address this problem if they cannot voice out on their own? For example, any policies that can be put in place to mitigate this problem of environmental inequity?
– Amanda
Hi Amanda!
That’s a really interesting question. I haven’t read much on that aspect of environmental inequity in the United States but in my understanding, a root cause of the environmental inequity faced there is social inequity. As such, policies that address social inequity (like policies that narrow the income inequality gap) would perhaps help mitigate the environmental inequity issue.
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for the interesting read! I just want to say that I really enjoy reading the other-side-of-the-coin viewpoints that you provide in most of your posts, I think that they are a breath of fresh air from the general consensuses that we often read online during this trying time.
It is indeed saddening to learn that the people of colour in the US are suffering the effects of environmental injustice during this pandemic. I guess that the only consolation is, like Wilson said, that Covid-19 has “made a lot of populations we made invisible, visible”.
With the increased public awareness of this environmental injustice issue due to Covid-19, what do you think are some of the tangible steps that the US government can take to address this problem moving forward? And how effective do you think these measures can be in resolving environmental injustice? I’m hopeful that under the newly-elected Biden administration, more of these solutions can be brought to fruition. Once again, thanks for the great read Rachel! 🙂
Hi Marcus,
Thank you for your comment! Really means a lot 🙂
Your question is really similar to Amanda’s and I guess my answer is the same. I feel that in order to tackle the environmental inequity, the US government needs to resolve its social inequity issues. Also, that’s a really cool and relevant point! – that perhaps (and hopefully) the Biden administration will do more to resolve social inequity and thus environmental inequity. \
Rachel