M3.3 Environmental Justice

Though slavery was made illegal in 1865, we still see widespread discrimination against African Americans. Disparities can be seen within the healthcare system, education system, workplace, etc. We see systemic racism against African Americans and it doesn't seem to be going away soon enough. Environmental injustice against this community is often overlooked because it is not found in the news and not seen on a day-to-day basis unless you live in these affected communities.

I do not find it surprising that corporations and dumps have found their way into dumping waste near these predominately African American neighborhoods. Could you imagine the backlash a wealthy white neighborhood would bring if they found out there would be a dump made in their neighborhoods? They have the money and power to stop such an endeavor while the low income minority communities would not even know that a dump is being made near by. Even if there were protests by the community, their yells would be met with silence from the corporations.

The environments that these individuals grow up and live in are their social determinants. These factors greatly influence the individual's overall health and quality of life. Social determinants of health can be changed but we first need to acknowledge that injustice exists and work together to fix it.

The Black Lives Matter is more important than ever as the community is fighting to overcome the institutionalized racism that has built over the many years. They are fighting for their voices to be heard because they will be silenced any more. Fighting against the environmental injustices is also part of the Black Lives Matter movement. People should understand that fighting for Black Lives Matter is fighting for justice for a community that has been put on the back burner for too many years.