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Dialogues@RU is published annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume One
Spring 2002
Trading
Human Health For Profit -
Page 5
by Nicole L. Warren
Robert Bullard knows this, and asserts, "African Americans…have begun to treat their struggle for a clean environment as an extension of the struggle for basic human rights" (34). Activists and citizens have also become aware of the fact that hazards imposed on their neighborhoods are part of the slew of discriminatory acts against blacks. For this reason, the environmental justice struggle closely relates to the Civil Rights Movement, which is an extension of the struggle for Human Rights. Yi-Fu Tuan urges "that however diverse our perceptions of environment, as members of the same species we are constrained to see things a certain way" (3). Although all humans do not share the same perceptions and belief systems, we are all bonded in that we "share a common world", as a species (Tuan 5). Shared sensory organs allow all humans to touch, hear, see, smell and (with caution) taste their physical environment. From those sensory experiences, perceptions of a person's surroundings can be formed. And although perceptions of the environment, whether they are positive or negative, vary from person to person, medical science has deemed the health dangers of environmental hazards a fact. Tuan urges, "that environments that are bad enough to endanger health require immediate action …" (2). Poor, black citizens in urban areas are well aware of these dangers, but can the same be said for their counterparts in suburbs, or other areas of the city?
Zukin and Tuan have framed the picture of exclusion and illusion that fuels the practice of environmental racism. Tuan credits this in part to the elitist mentality of wealthier citizens as Zukin demonstrates how a symbolic economy allows them to play a "deceptive game of representations" (Zukin 10), to maintain a front of equality and cultural inclusion. Towards an end, Tuan, the United Nations and World Conference Against Racism participants suggest universal recognition healthy, safe environments as a human right of all people. Citizens are encouraged to exercise their power as responsible members of society, to end environmental injustices. As a leading environmental justice scholar, activist, and director of the Environmental Justice Research Center, Robert Bullard is taking responsibility. Zulene Mayfield is not a scholar, and doesn't consider herself an activist, but she is a concerned citizen that took action. Her and the other members of CRCQL are taking responsibility. Others can follow their paths, keeping in mind that "as society and culture evolve, attitudes toward an environment can change--even reverse itself--over time" (Tuan 75). There is hope that wealthy, elitist and government officials will see the disparities and take vigorous, lasting action. As they opt to "trade human health for profit", I'll remain baffled by their inhumanity and insensitivity (Bullard 5).
Works Cited
Bullard, Robert. "Environmental Justice in the 21st Century". Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. 22 March 2002 <http://www.ejrc.cau.edu>.
Bullard, Robert & Glenn Johnson, et al. editors. Sprawl City: Race Politics and Planning in Atlanta. Island Press, Washington, D.C.: 2000.
Ewall, Mike. Environmental Racism in Chester. 13 March 2000. Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL). 12 November 2001 <http://www.penweb.org/chester.html>.
Commission on Human Rights. Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2001/35, Adverse effect of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights. Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland: April 20, 2001.
Decourcy Hinds, Michael. "Pennsylvania City Hopes its Bouncing Back From the Bottom". The New York Times. 5 January 1992.
Howington, Jessica & Christina Viola. "Health Effects of Pollutants Released by Facilities". 22 June 1996. Environmental Racism in Chester. Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL). 25 March 2002 <http://www.penweb.org/chester/health_chems.html>.
Kelly, Morgan. "The History of Chester". Environmental Racism
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< http://www.penweb.org/chester/history.html>.
Kensington Welfare Rights Union. "March of the Americas: Day 14-
Chester to Sharon Hill, Pa". October 1999. Poor People's Economic
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< http://www.kwru.org/ehrc/moa/d14.html>.
Lazarus, Richard. "Environmental Racism! That's What It Is!" University of Illinois Law Review 1 (2000): 255-274.
Lee, Charles. "Toxic Waste and Race in the United States". In B. Bryant & P. Mohai, eds., Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards: A Time for Discourse. Westview Press, San Francisco: 1992.
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Pokempner, Elizabeth. "Law Professor Examines Environmental Racism". The Legal Intelligencer. 31 March 2001. Law.com. 17 November 2001 <http://www.law.com>.
Scharr deProphetis, Cindy. "How Chester Made the List, by George". Delaware County Times. 19 February 1998.
Tuan, Ti-Yuan. Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, CA: 1974.
WCAR NGO Forum. "Proposed NGO Language on Environmental Racism". World Conference Against Racism (WCAR). 31 August 2001. Environmental Justice Resource Center. 15 November 2001< http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/NGOEJ.htm>.
Zukin, Sharon. "Who's Culture? Who's City?". The Culture of Cities. Blackwell Publishers, Inc, Cambridge, Ma: 1995.