In class last week we discussed environmental justice and the idea of “toxic racism.” One article “No Remedy for the Inuit: Accountability for the Heteronormative Landscape” by Anne Lucas shed a different light on the situation. It got me thinking about, not only the injustices that exist, but the ways in which we can stop them if at all possible. Lucas’ article explores the situation of pollution affecting the Inuit waters and the poisoning of their food sources. She goes on to look at the legal mechanisms to remedy environmental injustice infecting the Inuit. Lucas draws the conclusion that there are times when law “otherizes” those who are not centered in a white male prototype. Once marginalized, the Inuit and other groups essentially have no voice and no means for action. This depressing situation made me want to explore other circumstances of toxic racism.
After a bit of searching, I came across the story of the town Winona in Eastern Texas. The small African American community was basically turned into a toxic waste dump in the 1990s and the people suffered extensively. I found a youtube article that talks about what the community did in response.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEWoZaHq89o
The video mentions a book Fruit of the Orchard which discusses the situation and quotes different activates and has many photographs from the town. It explains the great lengths that the townspeople went to by contacting the press, forming riots, and publicizing photographs of those affected by the toxins. In the end, the people were trying to force the government to do their job and “protect American children on American soil” (fruit of the orchard). One woman is quoted at the end of the video saying “what happened in our backyard could happen in yours” (fruitoftheorchard). What we learned in class is that, although this statement is not necessarily true and that racial injustices exist, this is the mentality that we need in order to motivate ourselves to make a difference.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I found the youtube documentary of the town of Winona very moving and interesting. Unfortunately, it wasn't until we read the article "No Remedy for the Inuit: Accountability for the Heterormative Landscape", by Anne Lucas, that I became aware of the fact that our waste is being dumped in minority towns. Trash is desposed of in these areas because minority communities, while they might have the voice, do not have the power to protest.
Because I have had the luxury of living in predominantly white, upper-class suburbs, I have never been exposed to an overabundance trash and polluted waters. After watching the clip about how the town of Winona has been turned into a toxic waste dump, I began to think about the future. What happens when there is no more room to dump waste? Will companies begin to expose of waste in more affluent areas? Or will these communities have enough power and voice to fight? What would it take for minority communities to sucessfully fight the dumping of waste in their towns?
I have been haunted by images of land fills and toxic waste every single time I take out my trash for a few years because of the book "Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash" by Elizabeth Royte. It's kind of an autobiography, and she follows the trail of trash that we all leave behind by tracking her own - following sanitation workers around and pestering them with questions, then investigating the big business behind waste disposal as well as the way that pollution ultimately leaks back into our lives. I was left disgusted about American overconsumption, but at a loss of what I could do other than recycle as much as possible and try to be conscious of how the things I buy are packaged. Even so, I don't always keep that up and I'm still left with a whole lot of trash to take out either way.
Royte didn't really get into environmental injustice, though, so that has been new to me. The fact that certain groups of people have been targeted to receive the brunt of pollution that we are all contributing to seems like it should have been so obvious. But I never even used to worry about where my waste went, let alone whose health it was affecting. Most of us adopt an out of sight out of mind approach to trash.
Post a Comment