Today is the official Martin Luther King Day in the United States, chosen to commemorate Dr. King’s birthday, which is actually January 15th. In the U.S., it’s a real federal holiday, with banks and post offices and schools closed to honor this outspoken advocate for social justice.
Last Friday, the final school day before Martin Luther King Day, I passed a multi-ethnic group of school children, holding signs with King’s face in one hand and holding another child’s hand in the other. Led by their teacher, they were sweetly marching down Martin Luther King Way in downtown Berkeley. Last Wednesday, I went to an event at Martin Luther King Middle School, a beautiful school with top notch facilities and programs led by racially diverse staff for its racially diverse student body. At my daughter’s school, a visiting 7 year old student from Italy, whose English was not quite fluent, stood up and recited the some lines from King’s “I have a dream” speech which, he said, is studied in Italian grade schools. Wow, “I have a dream” in Italian grade schools? Black and white kids holding hands and walking down a major street named after Martin Luther King? An excellent public school, even named after Dr. King, for kids of all colors? A visitor to parts of this planet, if staying only briefly, might think we’ve overcome racism and social injustices since the time of Martin Luther King.
I wish it were so. Sadly, on so many fronts – including the environment – we have far to go.
When it comes to the distribution of environmental goods and harm, huge disparities still exist between communities of people with white skin and those with skin that isn’t white.
This reality, often called environmental racism, was first brought to national attention in the U.S. though the groundbreaking report, “Toxic Waste and Race in the United States,” published by the United Church of Christ in 1987. This was the first study to solidly document that race is the most significant factor when siting hazardous waste facilities nationwide. Race. Not geological stability or proximity to groundwater or any number of other criteria we might think would top the list when figuring out where to put a toxic waste site. The data in this report – for example, evidence that showed that three out of every five African-Americans and Hispanic Americans lived in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites – was shocking.
But you know what is even more shocking? In the past twenty years, the problem hasn’t been solved and, in some cases, is getting worse!
In 2007, twenty years after the release of the first report, the UCC released Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty, 1987 – 2007, which said: “Race continues to be an independent predictor of where hazardous wastes are located, and it is a stronger predictor than income, education and other socioeconomic indicators. People of color now comprise a majority in neighborhoods with
commercial hazardous waste facilities.”
The fact that 20 years later, environmental racism persists and, in fact, has increased is shameful. Of course, the answer to environmental racism is not some sort of “equitable pollution” in which we all share the toxic burden equally; the answer is to clean up our production processes and environmental governance so that no one-regardless of age or race or income, regardless of if they are living now or in generations to come-has to subsidize toxic processes and products. Period.
Martin Luther King said, “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. “
I’d like to suggest that today not be a day off, but a day on . A day on which we devote extra time to ending the silence about environmental racism and join the growing global movement for environmental justice. Read the United Church of Christ’s Toxic Waste and Race reports and tell your friends, your neighbors, write to your local paper and elected officials. Let’s make sure that another twenty years doesn’t pass with this injustice unstopped.
Dr King also said “We must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a higher plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness.” That higher destiny must include a healthy and safe environment for all people, regardless of their income, race, religion, or really anything.
There are many organizations in the United States, as well as around the world, working to promote environmental justice and to transform production process away from toxic chemicals. To find some organizations near you, check out the list at Story of Stuff and call one to find out how you can get involved.
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