ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM
Studies have shown that not all individuals are equally exposed to pollution. For
example, worldwide toxic waste sites are more prevalent in poorer communities. In the
United States, the single most important factor in predicting the location of such sites is
the ethnic composition of a neighborhood. Three of the five largest commercial
hazardous waste landfills in America are in predominantly Black or Hispanic
neighborhoods, and three out of every five Black or Hispanic Americans live in the
vicinity of an uncontrolled toxic waste site. The wealth of a community is not nearly as
good a predictor of hazardous waste locations as the ethnic background of the residents,
suggesting that the selection of sites for hazardous waste disposal involves racism.
Environmental racism takes international forms as well. American corporations often
continue to produce dangerous, US-banned chemicals and ship them to developing
countries. In addition, the developed world has shipped large amounts of toxic waste to
developing countries for unsafe disposal. For instance, experts estimate that 50 to 80
percent of electronic waste produced in the United States, including computer parts, is
shipped to waste sites in developing countries such as China and India. At a waste site
in Giuyu, China, laborers with no protective clothing regularly burn plastics and circuit
boards from old computers. They pour acid on electronic parts to extract silver and gold,
and they smash cathode-ray tubes from computer monitors to remove lead. These
activities so pollute the groundwater beneath the site that drinking water must be brought
to the area by trucks from a town 29 km away.
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