Environmental Racism. Individually, these two words have been popping up quite a bit recently; but what does it mean when they are together? Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism whereby communities of color are negatively affected through the disproportionate placement of toxic waste facilities, landfills, and other similar sites. Studies have found that Latinx and African Americans are exposed to more than 56% of the pollution they produce, where white Americans are exposed to 17% fewer pollutants than they produce.
A prominent example of such racism is found in this club’s home state of Michigan, the Flint water crisis. In 2014, Flint city changed its water source to the Flint River. Unfortunately, the city of Flint failed to treat the water adequately. This led to the exposure of dangerous lead levels and other contaminants like E Coli to more than 100,000 of Flint’s majority Black residents. For an agonizing 18 months, complaints about foul-smelling water, hair loss, and skin rashes went unanswered by officials. To this day, the Flint Community still suffers from what the Michigan Civil Rights Commission considers a “result of systemic racism” on behalf of officials.
It must be acknowledged that while the Flint water crisis is a prominent example of environmental racism, it is not the only one. Tribal reservations, Latinx communities, and many others face the brunt of environmental issues due to racial injustice. Environmental racism is a big problem, so what is being done to solve it? Grassroots organizations are working to change policies on a local level, and big powerhouse organizations like Earthjustice are stepping into the Supreme Court to face the nation’s problem head-on. In the Elk Rapids community, members can start facing environmental racism by becoming aware and spreading awareness. The path to environmental justice needs only to be walked.