M3.3 Environmental Justice

M3.3 Environmental Justice

Environmental injustices have plagued America since the settlers landed in the new world and the age of Christopher Columbus. Those in power would build establishments forcing natives from their lands and into horrible environmental conditions. Slaves often lived in inhabitable establishments with no medical care or ability to seek care.  The environmental injustices of today are rooted in a system where the rich dictate the health of the poor. Unfortunately minorities are the poorest groups in the U.S.. Social Determinants are factors that control a population’s health like the wealth, influence, and distribution of income. Take for example the water crisis in Flint Michigan, a predominantly African American community and a classic example of environmental injustice. In 2014, the local government decided to switch the city’s water supply from the Detroit system to the Flint River system to save more money (knowing the water was being poisoned by lead piping from the degrading General Motors plants). Residents complained to government officials about foul smelling, brown colored, and tainted water. The officials ignored the issue until environmental justice committees, scientist, journalism, and activist brought the issue to national attention. “The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, a state-established body, concluded that the poor governmental response to the Flint crisis was a “result of systemic racism” (Denchak, 2018).  Subsequently, many local officials were criminally charged and fired from office. According to an article written in 2016 by Grist an environmental journalism organization, the Black Lives Matter organization made a national statement on Flint and environmental injustice saying, “For what it is worth, of Resolution 64/292 of the United Nations General Assembly recognizes the human right to water and sanitation. However, like other fundamental human rights, Black people in America – especially those living in rural and poor areas – have long been denied the same access to clean drinking and water for bathing and sanitation as everyone else. The crisis in Flint is not an isolated incident” (Rakia, 2016)

References

Denchak, M. (2019, May 22). Flint Water Crisis: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know

Rakia, R. (2016, January 26). Black Lives Matters calls the Flint water crisis an act of "state violence". Retrieved from https://grist.org/living/black-lives-matters-calls-the-flint-water-crisis-an-act-of-state-violence/