It is nearly common knowledge that people of color, especially Black people, have higher rates of cancer in America. Oftentimes health organizations, such as the CDC, will list facts of Black people being less likely to have health screenings and being more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke; yet these same organizations will fail to explain how these facts came to be. When discussing risk factors and how to lower one’s risk of cancer, there is one major non modifiable risk factor that is not discussed: environmental racism.
What is environmental racism?
The term environmental racism was coined during the 1980s Environmental Justice Movement as deliberate polluting and exposure of toxic and hazardous waste sites and facilities in communities primarily populated by people of color. This exposure results in high risks of disease and cancer to these communities. This pollution is enforced by systemic racism and the corrupt policy makers influenced by big corporations and developers. White people can be affected by the toxic pollution, but people of color are disproportionately targeted through tactics such as redlining.
What is redlining?
Redlining is discriminatory tactics that prevent residents from moving to certain areas based on their race. In the 1930s the New Deal implemented a government homeowner program, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, which created a system of denying loans and mortgages to certain groups, specifically people of color and of lower income; this system pushed and confined these groups to more dangerous and low value areas. Color coded maps were used by the federal homeownership programs to decide which neighborhoods were deemed worthy in approving a mortgage loan. The red coded zones on the maps were neighborhoods of primarily Black residents. The government had a theory that these red zones populated by Black and brown residents were deemed lower quality and would decline in land property value. The residents living in the lower graded red zones were then deemed not worthy of receiving home loans, forcing these communities to stay within the confines of unlivable land.
How do corporations take advantage of redlining?
The implementation of the color-coded maps reduced the number of investments and resources to these redlined communities, leading to lowered asset values and deteriorating living conditions for Black and brown residents. Polluting corporations and plants were seeking low-cost lands, and the city would invite them to build their facilities on the red lined zones. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency did little to intervene and have proven their favoring to protect white communities. University of California, Berkeley and University of Washington published a study in 2022 reviewing 202 U.S cities, which revealed a strong correlation between redlining and levels of air pollution. Even the redlined areas with white residents showed lower levels of air pollution than redlined areas with Black residents. Another 2022 study from UC Berkeley and University of Washington has shown that present day Black communities that live within the historically redlined zones have twice as much gas and oil wells as white communities. The racist policies from the 1930s continue to affect residents today, increasing their risk and exposure to carcinogens right outside their homes.
Examples of environmental racism
Flint Water Crisis
The City of Flint in 2014 wanted to save money by switching the drinking water supply from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River, a hotbed of pollution and hazardous waste from the local plants and mills. This incident led to an increased incidence rate of skin rashes, hair loss, and elevated blood lead levels in children.
Louisiana’s Cancer Alley
An 85 mile stretch along the Mississippi river with a predominantly Black population that is lined with industrial plants. This area has the highest cancer risk in the nation.
Warren County PCB
Warren County in North Carolina housed a landfill designated by the state for a trucking company to dump PCB, polychlorinated biphenyls, a toxic waste. The PCB then infiltrated the well water drinking supply, exposing the primarily Black, poor residents to the toxins. This event in 1978 is deemed the pivotal point of environmental justice in the United States.
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Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board