ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM

Leah Crespo, David Chan, Shreya Chakraborty, Shanaya Bharucha

Environmental Racism

4. International level: India and Austrialia5. Close Out

3. National Level: Chicago and Michigan

1. Civil Rights 2. Atlanta's Murals

table of Contents

Editors, History.com. “Civil Rights Movement: Timeline, Key Events & Leaders.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 2023, www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement.

Civil Rights

a struggle for justice and equality for African Americans*

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Up to 30 murals from 11 different artists -- inspired by Atlanta's civil rights struggles -- can be found carefully placed along the city.

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In the heart of atlanta Mural 1

Mural 2

• The meaning of the art is still relevant in today's society as the obstacles they portray are faced today by many people of color.

Info on art

• The health problems that underprivileged communities are subjected to affect the generations to come.

• Problem: The slow emergence of health problems in communities with predominantly people of color is inherently generational.
• Artistic response:

So What?

The artistic response of individuals inspires people to create a more uniform community based on the values of activism and fight for a better life

So What?

Based in Atlanta, these artistic movements transcend state lines that can be used to incite change on a greater scale

Highlighting the connection that the Civil Rights movement has in environmental racism through its deep-rooted negligence of black and brown communities is necessary on a national scale

The artistic response of individuals inspires people to create a more uniform community based on the values of activism and fight for a better life

So What?

Based in Atlanta, these artistic movements transcend state lines that can be used to incite change on a greater scale

Highlighting the connection that the Civil Rights movement has in environmental racism through its deep-rooted negligence of black and brown communities is necessary on a national scale

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Environmental Racism

Racial discrimination in environmental policy‐making, enforcement of regulations and laws, and targeting of communities for the disposal of toxic waste and siting of polluting industries

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flint, michigan water crisis

• Due to economic struggles, city managers switched Flint's water supply to the Flint River
• Caused disparities in water quality among residents in Flint, Michigan
• Politicians downplayed the situation's severity and said the water was safe to drink
• African Americans did not have their concerns speedily addressed

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comparative analysis

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long-term effects on community

• 1 in 4 residents has post-traumatic stress disorder
• 1 in 5 adults likely has depression

• Cognitive and behavioral disorders
• Nervous system damage

• Delayed and impaired childhood development

• Scrapyard caused significant pollution - fluff, fires, emissions in Lincoln Park
• Officials decided to move scrapyard from a more white, affluent community to a low-income, Hispanic and Black community
• Mural created in protest, showing the dichotomy between the clear skies and bubbles of the White community with the gas mask and toxic waste of the Black community

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chicago's general iron scrapyard

• This mural calls for change, telling the viewer to sign a petition to stop the pollution

• All the protests against General Iron led to Chicago rejecting the move

• This art, and countless others like it, were able to make a small, but meaningful change in the fight against environmental racism

Symbolism of Provoke Culture Mural

Mothers UnitedAll races must protest together to gain equality for all

High-Rise Buildings vs Construction Sites Shows the long term effects of racism: office jobs are higher paying and safer than manual jobs

Bubbles vs Gas Mask: Shows the loss of childhood of kids affected by environmental racism

Over time, the amount of hog waste produced by these farms pollute the entire rural area, as millions of gallons of waste produced annually are poured into greenhouse-gas emitting lagoons that, especially after floods or hurricanes, completely contaminate both farms and residential areas. Pig feces sprayed over fields creates an omnipresent stench that makes the lives of these residents unbearable.

Meet the the residents of a small town in rural North Carolina, home to over 9 million hogs in 2,400 hog farms. Smithfield Foods, a large corporate meat company, unconsensually placed a hog farm in the land of this black community.

life in a pigsty

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The Smell of money

The riveting story of North Carolina's pigsty pollution, as told by activist Elsie Herring. This is a powerful, emotional portrayal of a relevant example of environmental racism, systemically onset by large corporations and historically biased American capitalism.

So, Environmental racism exists throughout America...

...What about the world?

While India is no developing country by any means, they are still seen as developing regardless of the fact that they have the world's sixth largest economy.

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A la mode

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Xiuhtezcatl is a Native American climate reform activist, who has been fighting for the environment since he was six years old - one famous example are his protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Break Free is centered around different issues that society is facing today, including oppression, racial discrimination, and environmental issues.

Break Free - Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

Searching for other planets for answers alludes to how many people have used space exploration as a point of hope in the battle against climate change

some Americans would rather corrupt indigenous culture and foolishly repeat the crime of colonization than actually try and heal our Earth.

“Premonitions of the end” -> white people misinterpreted Mayan calendars and culture to decide that the world would be ending

Premonitions of the end, expeditions, searching other planets for answers because we're all afraid of looking within

Thank you for watching !

Martinez, Xiuhtezcatl. “Break Free.” Break Free, 2018, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8xZHw4_-QPc.

The Smell of Money. Directed by Shawn Bannon, Beyond the Pines, 2022.

Reed, Besty. “Australian Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Indians Eating Solar Panels Attacked as Racist.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 Dec. 2015, www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/14/australian-newspaper-cartoon-depicting-indians-eating-solar-panels-attacked-racist.

Maciel, Sergio. “Patagonia x NRDC, 2020/2021.” Provoke Culture, https://www.provokeculture.com/projects/project-one-py5b5.

Wuerker, Matt. White. Colored. Michigan 2016. 20 Jan. 2016. CartoonStock, https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoon?searchID=EC138148.

Citations

Diaz, Andrea. “Photos: Atlanta’s Civil Rights Murals.” CNN, Cable News Network, 25 Jan. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/01/25/us/gallery/super-bowl-murals-atlanta-trnd/index.html.

Bullard, Robert D. "Environmental Racism and Invisible Communities." West Virginia Law Review, vol. 96, no. 4, Summer 1994, pp. 1037-1050. HeinOnline, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/wvb96&i=1017.

Worley, Ed. “Water Fountains Symbolize 1960s Civil Rights Movement.” U.S. Army, 22 Feb. 2018, https://www.army.mil/article/200456/water_fountains_symbolize_1960s_civil_rights_movement.

Ray, Michael. “Flint Water Crisis.” Britannica, 28 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/event/Flint-water-crisis.

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“Five Years After Water Crisis, Nearly 1 in 4 Flint Residents Has PTSD.” Boston University School of Public Health, https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2022/five-years-after-water-crisis-nearly-1-in-4-flint-residents-has-ptsd/.

“Environmental Racism.” The People’s School of DC, https://peoplesschooldc.wordpress.com/environmental-racism/.

Citations

Erwitt, Elliot. “North Carolina, 1950. (Segregation Fountain).” Magnum Photos, https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/collections/elliott-erwitt/19-north-carolina-1950-segregation-fountain/.

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