Intersection of Race and the Environment

BLACK PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT

THE ENVIRONMENT!

I have definitely heard this statement many times. And after careful consideration, I would prefer people say that the popular environmental issues are not seen as relevant in the lives of many Blacks in America. The popular environmental issues are centered around global warming and things of that nature. This isn't that pertinent to a Black kid being told he has ADD and he should take special classes. Especially if education is poor at his school, the teachers don't care, and his text book paints slavery as if it were a slap on the wrist to inferior beings.

In this stuation I think the phrase, "The battle is not yours" is extremely applicable. That child's immediate concern is the right to equal education that is balanced. The education and criminal justice system aren't so nice to minorities. Those minorities are my friends and family. They have to deal with discrimination almost around every corner. As a kid my mother told me you have to be twice as good as White people in order to achieve an equal playing field.

A reason why you don't see many Blacks for environmental issues is that fight -- like feminism -- is seen as a luxury. It is a sad thing that most minorities are unaware of Environmental racism and how it impacts them. They know that the landfill next door is pumping chemicals in their environment, but they don't know how much it affects them and that the placement is intentional. It has been said that the best place to place dangerous buildings is near an area where people won't speak up -- urban, uneducated environments.

You don't really see many White people signing up to protest putting hazardous sites is predominantly Black neighborhoods. Why? Cause it would place it in their neighborhoods. Can you blame them? And it doesn't directly affect them almost how certain global issues don't directly affect Black people.

If asked in High School about my thoughts on the environment, wouldn't have thought of the trees and grass. Tension and segregation would have came to mind. That was my environment, that is what I saw everyday, and that is what I cared about. So because my environment is different, does that make it any less valued?