Environmental Racism & Its Impact On Our Society After 5 Years, I Went Back To Where I Was Born

Environmental racism refers to how minority-based neighborhoods, which are populated primarily by people of color and members of low-socioeconomic backgrounds, are burdened with disproportionate numbers of hazards, which include effects of toxic waste facilities, garbage dumps, and other sources of environmental pollutants that lower the quality of life. Subsequently, as the fight with climate change worsens, minority communities will be disproportionately affected on a political, economic, social, and health level.

Many of these discrepancies are entirely due to power dynamics entrenched on an institutional level that is set up to harm minorities and low-income folk. Millionaires make up only 3% of the public, yet they control all three branches of the federal government. While more than 50% of U.S. citizens hold working-class jobs, less than 2% of Congress has held a blue-collar job before their Congressional career. In addition, no member from the working class has gone on to become a United States President or Supreme Court Justice.

Most were millionaires before getting elected or appointed to the position. With a government inept to the working class' woes, high housing costs, and historical discrimination, low-income and minority neighborhoods are clustered around industrial sites, truck routes, ports and other air pollution hotspots. Many are left to live near highways where trucks spew diesel, and other hazards may occur.

Environmental racism is then exacerbated by a litany of sources like redlining, racial steering, and zoning laws. While the best known examples of redlining have involved denial of financial services such as banking or insurance, other services such as healthcare or even department store shopping have been denied to residents based upon their race. Racial steering refers to the practice in which real estate brokers guide prospective home buyers away from certain neighborhoods based on their race.

Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zoning regulations for areas with higher value on homes are not as strict as ones for homes in lower income neighborhoods.

For instance, fracking, enabled to occur near lowincome neighborhoods, is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks and boreholes, so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. If the oil or gas wells are not built well enough, they can leak and contaminate groundwater. Seeing as fracking uses huge amounts of water, it can be transported to the site at significant environmental cost. There are potentially carcinogenic chemicals that may escape during drilling and contaminate groundwater around the fracking site. a legislative standpoint, part of the problem is that proposed climate policies often don t account for deeply rooted social inequities.

The last time went to my birthplace, Asunción Ocotlán, Oaxaca, it was for my niece's quinceañera, and was 13 years old.

ILLUSTRATION BY LORENA BERNAL

Several political and economic systems are set up to keep minorities in their low income neighborhoods, thus suffering from pollutants. The lack of affordable housing has led to high rent burdens (rents which absorb a high proportion of income), overcrowding, and substandard housing. These phenomena, in turn, have not only forced many people to become unhoused, but have put a large and growing number of people at risk of becoming unhoused.

Subsequently, there are health complications suffered from not only this displacement but the inability to leave such neighborhoods. Children from low-income and minority families are more likely to be at risk of exposure because they spend more time playing on contaminated soil than children from higher-income families; spend more time in houses that have lead paint or high dust levels; may be exposed to higher levels of contaminants in utero and in breast milk because their mothers are also disproportionately exposed; and have inadequate diets that may increase the absorption of toxic chemicals from their digestive system. From returned again this year, five years later at 18 years old, but this time for the first death anniversary of my grandparents. The reason for returning wasn't the best circumstance, but it was needed because I'm not sure when would've gone back, if ever. I was happy and excited to go back because wanted to see my family who lives in my small town and be able to experience living there for a bit. did feel more comfortable in the house, but did miss my grandparent's presence, especially my grandmother who always made hot chocolate for breakfast and traveled with us, as well as their plants and animals which were sold off. My dad left some family photos, furniture in the house untouched, and three trees as a memory of my grandparents. am a creative person, and there are not any of my family members who are in creative fields or work. I'm the only one who seems to be heading down that path. It helped me feel very connected to see the creative and artistic aspects that are part of my birthplace and culture.

Many people are going to be locked out of participating in a green economy if their homes are going to be destabilized. Confronting climate change requires a massive social shift. Several health effects are spewed from environmental racism. PM 2.5 is a known carcinogen connected to premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing.

Racial disparities in this exposure hold not only at a national level, but also within most states and counties. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which can exist in both toxic waste and air pollution, have been linked to higher rates of diabetes for Black Americans. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an air pollutant and greenhouse gas, affects Black Americans by a margin of 37% more than white Americans.

There are federal and local policies and policy proposals that address environmental racism and seek to reduce the harm. The Green New Deal, a congressional bill introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Congressman Ed Markey, starts with a WWII-type mobilization to address the grave threat posed by climate change, transitioning our country to 100% clean energy by 2030.

Clean energy includes all renewable energy, such as wind, solar, thermal, and water. This policy will also redirect research funds from fossil fuels into renewable energy and conservation, will build a nationwide smart electricity grid that can pool and store power from a diversity of renewable sources, end destructive energy extraction and associated infrastructure, and will provide a jobs guarantee.

The Economic Bill of Rights, which is derived from the Green New Deal, will provide the right to singlepayer healthcare, a guaranteed job at a living wage, affordable housing and free college education.

Environmental racism is a concept that has been deeply ingrained into every system present not just in this country, but across the world. While mild policy changes only address surface level impacts of the issue, it must be noted that climate justice goes hand in hand with several social issues in our society.

My dad had a house in the town which is where my grandparents lived. After they passed away, he remodeled the house so our family would be more comfortable and safe when we stayed over.

Being older now, I've grown to be grateful for the experiences and things have. know all the hard work and struggles my parents went through were to be able to give me and my siblings a better life.

During my time in Oaxaca, I acknowledged and appreciated the hard work everyone was doing to provide for themselves and their families. Especially when it came to the handmade and creative works people had to sell and offer, like wooden art sculptures, embroidered clothes, beaded bracelets, and other jewelry. was really happy to see such beautiful art in many forms.

In my hometown, many of the residents speak Zapoteco, especially the elders. The majority of the adults in my family can speak it. My niece can understand and speak it, though my cousins can't speak it well, but can mostly understand. My siblings and know a few words, but don't my grandparent's one-year death anniversary. I'd spend most of my time helping clean the house as there was a big mess after it was remodeled. My aunt, uncle, and cousins would come to help us clean and set up for the gathering. We ate dinner with them often and enjoyed spending time with them as they told stories of their childhood. understand it fully or speak it well. I've been wanting to learn Zapoteco, but my parents wanted me to be able to know Spanish fluently before teaching me. My Spanish isn't as good as I'd want it to be, but I'm able to communicate with other Spanish speakers. managed to find a Zapoteco dictionary that is somewhat accurate, so can learn a bit on my own when have the time. hope that one day I'll be able to speak it well and keep the dialect alive.

When not cleaning, we'd go to my aunt and uncle's house to visit or walk around town to buy snacks or food. Since Christmas and New Year's were close, my cousins would buy small fireworks and light them up in the streets. After they left our house, or my family would leave their house, we would go to sleep late at night and wake up for a new day.

During my stay, had a new routine. would wake up early to go with my family to buy needed items in town, Ocotlan de Morelos, or San Antonino Castillo Velasco. We would eat at home or find somewhere to eat at the place we were headed. After shopping, we'd come back home, eat again, and clean up the house. Many days were spent shopping to prepare for the family gathering happening at our house for spent a lot of time with my cousins. wanted to make the most of my time with them since I'm not able to see them as frequently as the rest of my family. enjoyed learning about their lives, as well as knowing what their interests were. was happy to find out that we had some in common. appreciated our time together and how they helped me and my family navigate life in Asunción Ocotlán. gave each of them a small weaved gift basket with things thought they'd like as well as a bit of money to buy something else they'd like. wanted to show that I care and listen to them. get to go back again later this year, and I'm really happy I'll be able to see my family again. hope visiting them can become a yearly thing.

Overall, my experience at Asunción Ocotlán was absolutely wonderful. really loved all that Oaxaca had to offer. During the day and night, the sky was always beautiful. loved looking at the sky and trying to take good pictures but my phone couldn't do it justice. loved connecting with my family there and being able to celebrate many things with them. My family only visits family members a few times a year. Spending twenty days with family was amazing and something wished happened more often.