environmental justice
movement
west dallas , united states and now the
world
friends of the earth united
states
Environmental racism
goes hand-in-hand with economic
globalization, with poorly regulated,
polluting companies operating in developing
countries like Nigeria.
In the
United States
, research has clearly demonstrated
that African American, indigenous and other
communities of color bear a
disproportionate burden of the pollution in
their areas. It is well documented that
race—not income, education, property value
or other indicators—is the single most
determinative factor in the siting of toxic
facilities, as well as in lax environmental
enforcement. According to the National
Black Environmental Justice Network, people
of color communities are at greater risk of
suffering from environmentally-related
health disorders than are residents of
predominantly white communities.
For years, the most notorious polluter
in West Dallas , Texas was a lead smelter
that was operated from 1934-84 by the RSR
Corporation. Between 1950 and 1952, the
city government resettled 19,000 residents
to a segregated section of an industrial
zone “as an Area to be occupied primarily
by Negroes” ( West Dallas Neighborhood
Development Corporation). West Dallas was
also designated as a neighborhood for
Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans.
The RSR smelter's byproducts – battery
chips, lead slag, and pea gravel – were
deposited in piles in the neighborhood.
These piles were utilized as fill for
driveways and house lots, and children grew
up playing in them.
Every night there were emissions of lead
flue dust, cadmium, zinc, and arsine gas.
The heavy metals dispersed as a fine mist
of particulate matter over the
neighborhoods, and settled on homes, land
and vegetation. West Dallas was also home
to four petrochemical refineries, storage
facilities and open-air lagoons; four
chemical manufacturing companies; six
mining companies and quarries; and two
cement companies and kilns. Completing this
toxic district were two tank and boiler
works, and a number of foundries, metal and
machine shops, solid waste dumps and
landfills.
a movement is born
Activists in West Dallas spent sixteen
years getting the smelter closed, and
another sixteen years advocating for the
cleanup. The awakening of West Dallas
citizens to the pollution and incumbent
health, social and economic disorders
occurred – as with many other communities
around the US – with the advent of the
environmental justice movement. The United
Church of Christ's Commission on Racial
Justice convened the first National People
of Color Summit in 1991, bringing together
over 1000 people. Eleven years later,
another Summit was convened and attendees
flocked from around the world; in the
intervening years networks were created,
policies and laws were enacted, setbacks
and a conservative backlash were weathered,
and the environmental justice movement grew
and grew.
The environmental justice movement, as
it originated and gelled in the US in the
1980s and 90s, became a global phenomenon
mobilizing the poor, people of color and
minority groups around the world.
Globalization is exacerbating environmental
racism, as transnational companies relocate
their facilities to countries with cheaper
labor and weaker or unenforced
environmental standards. The relocated
facilities are often sited in communities
of color.
Governments must ensure that their
policies and practices adhere to the
‘polluter pays' and precautionary
principles as outlined in the Rio
Declaration. Global corporate hegemony must
be challenged on every level: locally,
nationally, regionally and internationally
so that corporate rights do not supersede
town councils, national parliaments,
congresses and international treaties. No
less than the future of the global
environment, nations' sovereignty, and the
democratic freedoms and human rights of all
peoples are at stake.
more information:
Friends of the Earth United
States:
www.foe.org
Southwest Organizing Project:
www.swop.net
