Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 15 December 2005 — Page 15

The Muncie Times • December 15, 2005 • Page 15

WITNESS FOR JUSTICE

Time for people of color to mobilize against environmental racism

By C.J. Correa Bernier There is an environmental revolution going on in the United States and abroad, dating back long before the 1990s. People of color, individually and collectively, have waged war against environmental injustices that predate the first Earth Day in 1970. These were social and economic injustices that are embedded in institutional racism: lack of services, land use and zoning issues, inadequate, intolerable hazardous living and working conditions. (Dr. Robert Bullard, "A Dream Deferred: 30 Years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964," U.S. Department of Justice Symposium, Nov. 30, 1994). In the environmental justice movement, we are as concerned as any of the traditional environmental groups because we all know there is only one \environment. We, too, are concerned about wetlands, birds and wilderness areas; however we are also concerned about urban habitats, about American Indian reservations, about what is happening on the USMexican border, about children poisoned by lead in their own homes and about children playing in contaminated parks and playgrounds.

When we engage in the environmental justice movement, we are talking about dismantling environmental racism. We are talking about addressing the inequalities that result from human settlement, industrial contamination and infrastructure development. Environmental racism is the intentional placement of hazardous waste sites, landfills, incinerators, and polluting industries in communities inhabited mainly by African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, migrant farm workers, and the working poor. Racial and ethnic minorities are particularly vulnerable because they are perceived as weak and passive citizens who will not fight back against the poisoning of their neighborhoods in fear that it may jeopardize jobs and economic survival. Environmental racism can be observed in the issues related to unsustainable developments and to the implementation of policies, regulations and laws affecting the quality of our environment as racial and ethnic minorities and the poor. The grassroots environmental justice movement defines the environment as "the place

where we live, where we work, and where we play, "((Proceedings: The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, (The Washington Court on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Oct. 24-27, 1991), United Church of Christ, Commission for Racial Justice). The issues that have been affecting communities of color for years are part of discriminatory housing and land use practices, residential segregation, inadequate transportation, limited employment and educational opportunities, political disenfranchisement, and access to information and medical care. These environmental realities are contributors to the development of different types of illnesses and other physical conditions, economic abandonment, decay of infrastructure and the disintegration of communities. The truth is that the communities which suffer environmental injustice also suffer the negative effects of social inequity. Cultural heritage and traditions vital to their survival as wholesome communities are maligned or eradicated. Their youth suffer from mass alienation and become subject to destructive violence, often as a direct result of

Bernice Powell Jackson

living in degraded physical environments. Two decades ago, the UCC Commission for Racial Justice helped to demonstrate the connection, in an explicit manner, of the issues of environmental contamination with the elements of race, color and socioeconomic status. Throughout the history of the United States, there has existed an "inextricable link between exploitation of the land and exploitation of people." Charles Lee, "Environmental Justice and You", United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice. The collective and individual health of members of a community is the direct result of a set of physical, social, cultural and spiritual factors. The environmental justice movement represents a new vision created through a series of community processes whose main objective is a transformative public conversation about what is necessary for sustainable,

healthy and vital communities.

If environmental racism exists in your community, gather the members of your church and/or community, research all the facts and develop a thorough description of the problem. Select the most appropriate resource persons and organizations including the government agencies to clarify the legal, scientific and medical issues. Join the environmental justice movement that challenges the issues of power imbalance, political disenfranchisement and lack of resources to make possible the creation and maintenance of healthy, livable and sustainable communities. C.J. Correa Bernier Minister for Environmental Justice at the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio. Berrier is filling in for Bernice Powell Jackson