Thread by @ariellevking

This #earthday I would love for everyone to learn at least one fact about the impacts of environmental racism so we can all understand how inextricably linked racial justice is with the protection & preservation of our planet

Here are a few: 1.) race has remained one of the most significant indicators of a community’s proximity to hazardous waste and pollutants since this was first proven in 1987 in the Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States report (nrc.gov/docs/ML1310/ML…)

2.) A study in 2021 showed that Black people in the US are 40% more likely than other groups to live in places where climate change-driven extreme temperatures will result in higher mortality rates (epa.gov/system/files/d…)

Formerly redlined neighborhoods face greater climate risks, including heatwaves (the deadliest climatic disaster facing cities) and flooding. And these communities are likely to have the resources to prepare for disasters (enterprisecommunity.org/blog/link-betw…)

Resources to learn more about environmental racism:
1. A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind by Harriet A. Washington

2. Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States by Carl A. Zimring

3. Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by Dorceta Taylor

4. The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities
by Dr. Beverly Wright & Dr. Robert D. Bullard

5. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

I could literally talk about this all day, so maybe I’ll start new threads once a week diving into different aspects of the impacts. Maybe I’ll finally even start my environmental racism series on tik tok back up!