What is Environmental Racism & 24 Helpful Resources to Help You Learn More

Environmental racism is a relatively new concept for me and something I am learning more about everyday. Environmental racism refers to the way in which Black people, indigenous people and people of colour are disproportionately effected by the climate crisis. Since this is something that I am learning about, I wanted to share some resources with you that I have found useful and that can explain it much better than I can.

So What is Environmental Racism?

Let's start with some definitions...

"Environmental racism refers to public policies and industry practices disproportionately placing the burden of pollution, waste and the climate crisis on Black people, indigenous people and people of colour" - Waste Free Marie

" Environmental racism refers to the way in which minority group neighbourhoods (populated primarily by people of color and members of low socioeconomic groups) are burdened with a disproportionate number of hazards, including toxic waste facilities, garbage dumps, and other sources of environmental pollution and foul odours that lower the quality of life. All around the globe, members of minority groups bear a greater burden of the health problems that result from higher exposure to waste and pollution. This can occur due to unsafe or unhealthy work conditions where no regulations exist (or are enforced) for poor workers, or in neighbourhoods that are uncomfortably close to toxic materials." - Lumen Learning Sociology Course

News Articles

• Megan Mayhew Bergman, "'They chose us because we were rural and poor': when environmental racism and climate change collide" The Guardian
• Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, "I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet." The Washington Post
• Somini Sengupta, "Read up on the Links Between Racism and the Environment" The New York Times
• Nina Lakhani & Jonathan Watts, "Environmental Justice Means Racial Justice, Say Activists" The Guardian
• "Climate Change and Air Pollution are Race Issues" Friends of the Earth
• Leah Thomas, "Why Every Environmentalist Should be Anti-Racist" Vogue

Books & Book Chapters

• Robert D. Bullard, "Anatomy of Environmental Racism and the Environmental Justice Movement" available here
• Dorceta Taylor, "Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility" Google Books
• Carl A. Zimring, "Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States"
• Harriet A. Washington, "A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind".
• Julie Sze, "Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger"
• (Ed.) Karen Jarratt-Snider and Marianne O. Nielsen, "Indigenous Environmental Justice".
• Anuradha Rao, "One Earth: People of Colour Protecting Our Planet" (this one is aimed at kids aged 12+)

Journal Articles 

• Laura Pulido, "Flint, Environmental Racism, and Racial Capitalism" Capitalism Nature Socialism
• Gordon Walker & Karen Bickerstaff, "Polluting the poor: an emerging environmental justice agenda for the UK?" Goldsmiths University
• Alexandra Phillips, "Climate Change is Environmental Racism" The Journal for the Post Industrial Age 

Videos 

• Climate in Colour Youtube Channel 
• Ingrid Waldron, "Struggles for Environmental Justice in Mi'kmaq & African Nova Scotian Communities" TEDxMSVUWomen 
• Majora Carter "Greening the Ghetto" TED 2006
• Peggy Shepard, "Environmental Justice" TEDxHarlem

Blogs & Online Courses

• Waste Free Marie, Sources on Environmental Racism
• Lumen Learning, "Reading: Environmental Racism" As Part of the Sociology Course
• Future Learn, Environmental Justice
• Mike Hosey, Racism and Environmental Justice, Think Sustainability