Celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2021
OK, I know you’re saying “With all the mess going on now – the Covid pandemic, job loss, schools still not fully opened, unarmed Black folk still getting killed by racist police, racist attacks on Asians, states passing new laws strategically targeted to keep black and brown citizens from voting, Congress refusing to pass a $15 federal minimum wage, etc. – why should Black folk and other communities of color be concerned about celebrating Earth Day?” Here are some reasons why:
The harm done to the environment affects communities of color more. Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official Mustafa Santiago Ali stated that “communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous populations are still struggling to receive equal protection under the law. These communities both urban and rural often live in areas with toxic levels of air pollution, crumbling or non-existent water and sewer infrastructure, lead in their drinking water, brownfields from vacant and former industrial and commercial sites, Superfund and other hazardous waste sites,” and exposure to a host of other pollutants.
U.S. history has shown us that toxic dumpsites were intentionally put in Black and low-income communities. A 1987 report by the Commission for Racial Justice titled, Toxic Waste and Race in the United States, found that while “socioeconomic status appeared to play an important role in the location of commercial hazardous waste facilities, race still proved to be more significant.” In North Carolina, EPA designated superfund toxic dumpsites in predominantly black communities like Warren Co. and Shiloh Community in western Wake Co. are just two examples.
Industrial farming operations, oil, and gas industry pipelines, landfills, and industries whose operations produce toxic waste tend to be located near or go through Black, Brown and Native communities.
Black and Brown workers work in the most hazardous (unhealthy and unsafe) jobs in the U.S. Jobs like sanitation workers, wastewater and sewer workers, farmworkers, chemical plant workers are some examples.
For Black, Brown and Native American communities, there is a link between environmental, racial and social inequality and injustice. Our celebration of Earth Day is our fight for a healthy and safe environment which includes the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the physical earth we live on, and communities we live in and the jobs we work.
So, celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd by committing to join and become active in the environmental workers and social justice movements!
