Cancer Alley is an 85-mile stretch of communities along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. These communities live close to around 200 fossil fuel and petrochemical operations that pollute the area. The people of these communities, black and low-income, have long reported high rates of cancer and diseases, hence the name. Communities were intentionally placed in the area due to racist zoning laws and economic inequality. Despite the high risk of living there, residents are often too poor to move out. These communities have less access to health care, legal representation, and political power to fight back. This injustice is commonly known as environmental discrimination– a recurrent phenomenon where marginalized communities bear the weight of environmental harm.
Environmental discrimination is a variant of the deep-rooted systemic racism prevalent all around the world. In the early 1900s, industries like oil refining, chemical production, and waste disposal often began establishing in marginalized neighborhoods. A pattern failing to be an accident. Cities used racist zoning laws and housing segregation to keep these communities in more polluted areas. Communities in the area didn’t have the political power or money to fight back. In the 1930s-1960s, the Home Owners’ Loan corporation began creating “redlining” maps in order to assess mortgage risks. Marginalized communities were marked red, deeming that they were too risky for investment. Because of this, redlined communities had a lack of investment in infrastructure, sanitation, and parks. Instead there was a flood of landfills and polluting industries. Redlining laid the foundation for environmental inequality that is prevalent today. In 1982– a poor, Black community was chosen as a location for a toxic landfill. Protests exploded nationwide– sparking the environmental justice movement. In 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, directing federal agencies to address environmental racism. Today, environmental inequality has finally garnered more attention– but communities still continue to struggle.
The South Bronx, a low income area, is home to a diverse community. Approximately 60% percent of its residents are Latino and 39% are Black. Everyday, 15,000 trucks make their commute through the South Bronx– releasing harmful pollutants near communities. Many students walking to school inhale this toxic air daily. The children of the community are hospitalized for asthma at a rate of 3 to 8 times higher than the national average. They are continuously blamed for “bad health choices” when in reality, corporations are the real culprit. Pahokee, Florida is a rural town with high poverty rates. It is a home to primarily Black and Latino communities, and is overrun with pollution. The town is known for its sugarcane farming. During the farming season, the corporations set fire to the sugarcane fields in order to make harvest easier. The process releases thick, black smoke and pollutants into the atmosphere. The ash raining down on the community is commonly known by inhabitants as “black snow”. This has been linked to countless respiratory problems in both elders and children of the community. In wealthier communities east of the sugarcane fields, burning is restricted when wind blows smoke toward them. This reinforces the environmental double standard. These case studies prove environmental discrimination is a pattern built into our systems. This isn’t an accident, it is the cold-blooded murder of countless marginalized communities.
These communities aren’t just struggling– they are systematically deprived of basic necessities. Because of redlining, they commonly suffer from food insecurity. Fast food and gas stations line the streets, making healthy food a scarcity. Many of these areas have become urban heat islands. Forcing residents to suffer in extreme heat due to the lack of trees and green spaces. Corporations continuously place waste sites and toxic industries in these neighborhoods, forcing clean air and water into a luxury. These residents aren’t just physically struggling– they are emotionally worn. Not just from environmental harm, but also from a deep sense of neglect and injustice.
Massive corporations believe they can continue damaging and polluting communities with no power or voice to stop it, but we have to be strong enough to fight back. Cities will not stop redling low-income areas until we petition. Marginalized communities deserve better homes. We must invest in all communities. By holding representatives accountable, we can push for action.
Greta Thunberg once said, “Environmental justice means climate justice. You cannot have one without the other.” We cannot only fight pollution and global warming, without addressing the discrimination, inequality, and classism involved. Marginalized communities are living through the worst of it, while doing the least of it. Why is it that the ones who have hurt the world the least are struggling the worst? If we continue to ignore these issues we will only protect the privileged. Climate justice begins with environmental justice.
Works Cited
Human Rights Watch. “US: Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” | Human Rights Watch.” Human Rights Watch, 25 Jan. 2024, http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/25/us-louisianas-cancer-alley.
Ihejirika, Maudlyne. “What Is Environmental Racism?” NRDC, NRDC, 24 May 2023, http://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-environmental-racism.
Peña-Parr, Victoria. “The Complicated History of Environmental Racism.” UNM Newsroom, 4 Aug. 2020, news.unm.edu/news/the-complicated-history-of-environmental-racism.
Ramirez, Ivana. “10 Examples of Environmental Racism and How It Works.” YES! Magazine, 22 Apr. 2021, http://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2021/04/22/environmental-racism-examples.
Smith, Robert F. “12 Examples of Environmental Racism to Know.” Robert F. Smith, 26 Sept. 2023, robertsmith.com/blog/examples-of-environmental-racism/.
Yale Sustainability. “How to Support Environmental Justice Everyday | Yale Sustainability.” Sustainability.yale.edu, 13 Nov. 2020, sustainability.yale.edu/blog/how-support-environmental-justice-everyday.