Environmental Justice

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The truth is racism occurs beyond just people having prejudices towards each other.  Racism can also affect people's environments, thus affecting their health. An example of this is with African-American populations. Throughout American history there have been numerous stories about corporations targeting areas near black communities to dump their toxic chemicals and waste. There has been some strides to change these unforgivable acts against our fellow Americans like President Clinton's executive order #12898, but of course acts of environmental racism still occur. 

This relates to social determinants of health because people cannot chose what color their skin is or where they live. This means they are more likely to be exposed to hazardous or unhealthy situations based on something they have no control over. These people can even sometimes been seen has unequal to other citizens or have bias brought upon them because they are not white. Black Lives Matter help bring awareness to issues like these with an aim to stop systemic racism and bring down racial inequalities. By stoping racism, not only will people be less likely to be judge based on the color or their skin but they could lead healthier lives because populations could be less target for environmental racism like targeting a black community to dump toxins.  

Comments

  1. Jordan DemosSeptember 14, 2018 at 9:46 AM

    Caitlin,

    It hurts me to see people of color be treated unequally. Living in SF, one can see that everyday based on living conditions and the state of the homes they live in. I’ve been guilty, and I know others are too, but sometimes we put on the “blinders” and choose to do nothing about it. It’s not like we don’t care, or admit that it’s there, we just decide to not work to make a change.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 16, 2018 at 9:25 PM

    Hi Caitlin,

    That is a good point you bring up about not having a choice of the color of your skin can also mean not choosing where you live. Not until recently, did I learn about all of the laws and legislation that were enforced by the government that created more segregation and areas where blacks were not allowed to live. The effects are still seen today and that is just in one sector. I can't imagine all of the other legislation that has become invisible to us but still affects certain groups.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2018 at 9:47 AM

    We watched this documentary in our 'Communicating for healthy behavior' class and that the documentary show how some neighborhood in Richmond, CA face so much health disparities and one contributor for the health problem was their environment.
    The story of Veronica getting better significantly after moving to a new place is baffling! There are neighborhood in Seattle, where low-income housing are set so that it promotes health and results were astonishing

    ReplyDelete

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