Environmental Justice Movement Overview

Environmental Justice Movement

• The environmental justice movement is predominantly led by marginalized groups including Black, Latine, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous communities.
• It addresses environmental racism, which highlights that communities of color and impoverished populations often reside in the most polluted areas.
• Environmental justice asserts that all individuals, regardless of race or income, deserve equal environmental protections and meaningful participation in decision-making.

Impact of Racism and Inequality

• Environmental injustice results from deep-rooted racism and inequality present throughout U.S. history.
• Wealthy, majority-white communities receive better infrastructure investments, stricter enforcement of environmental laws, and are prioritized for accountability measures against polluters.
• Conversely, marginalized communities are sites for waste storage, industrial exploitation, and environmental hazards, often facing multiple threats simultaneously.

Health Risks and Vulnerabilities

• Residents in disadvantaged communities often endure compounded health risks, such as exposure to lead-contaminated water and proximity to polluting industries.
• These overlapping environmental threats are intensified by existing social and economic vulnerabilities.

Origin of National Movement: Warren County Protests

• The environmental justice movement gained national recognition following the Warren County, North Carolina protests in the 1980s.
• The state's plan to store toxic PCB-laden soil in the predominantly Black, impoverished community of Warren County triggered widespread outrage.
• Influential figures from the Civil Rights Movement, like Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and Reverend Joseph Lowery, supported local residents' protests against the landfill.

Protest Actions and Outcomes

• In September 1982, residents used direct action by blocking trucks headed to the hazardous waste landfill, resulting in six weeks of nonviolent protests.
• The protests saw over 500 arrests, marking the first major legal confrontations in the U.S. related to landfill site selection.

Historical Context of Environmental Activism

• Prior to Warren County, other communities of color had mobilized against environmental threats; notable actions include:
  • 1960s campaigns by Latine farmworkers for labor rights led by Cesar Chavez.
  • Black students protesting a garbage dump in Houston in 1967, after two fatalities of local children.
  • Residents of West Harlem opposing a sewage treatment plant in 1968, illustrating a history of environmental activism before the national spotlight on Warren County.