Introduction
Racism is an issue that has existed for a long time, but it is rarely acknowledged to have different forms. When people speak of racism it is always about racial hatred between races involving harsh treatment, misjudgment, and cruel remarks. It was not until I learned about social justice that I realized I had been living under a form of racism for the past seventeen years. The form of racism that I am speaking about is referred to as environmental racism. Environmental racism is the purposeful placement of environmentally hazardous facilities such as coal burning power plants in the proximity of low-income communities specifically ones inhabited by people of color or vice-versa meaning low-income communities are built near established hazardous facilities.
I chose the issue of environmental racism as the focus of my Fire Project mainly because it is one that I had never known about and have blindly been living under for all my life. It infuriates me to know that environmentally hazardous facilities are purposely placed near communities inhabited by people of color without them being aware of the effects they may cause them. For instance the community I live in had a running coal burning power plant, Crawford Power Plant, that had been releasing tons of pollutants such as NOx and SOx while producing energy that was not even for our community or city. All the people in my community had to suffer from breathing air contaminated with pollutants and many were unaware that the pollutants were in the air as well as the fact that the power plant was producing energy for another location but contaminating ours. The worst thing about this form of racism is that it obviously is not just in Chicago but it has nationalized and globalized over the years and many more people are suffering from the effects.
I hope to implement more awareness and knowledge of environmental racism through my project in order to continue the movement to close down more environmentally hazardous facilities located near low-income communities. I want people to be aware of the effects that these facilities are causing them such as cancer, asthma, heart disease, etc. It is not fair that minorities have to suffer from such illnesses only because companies and corporations are trying to make more money at others expense. Our health is important and we cannot stand by and let it be harmed. Our voice is crucial in this movement to shut down these facilities and our voice can only be gained through the awareness and knowledge of what is happening in our community.
I chose the issue of environmental racism as the focus of my Fire Project mainly because it is one that I had never known about and have blindly been living under for all my life. It infuriates me to know that environmentally hazardous facilities are purposely placed near communities inhabited by people of color without them being aware of the effects they may cause them. For instance the community I live in had a running coal burning power plant, Crawford Power Plant, that had been releasing tons of pollutants such as NOx and SOx while producing energy that was not even for our community or city. All the people in my community had to suffer from breathing air contaminated with pollutants and many were unaware that the pollutants were in the air as well as the fact that the power plant was producing energy for another location but contaminating ours. The worst thing about this form of racism is that it obviously is not just in Chicago but it has nationalized and globalized over the years and many more people are suffering from the effects.
I hope to implement more awareness and knowledge of environmental racism through my project in order to continue the movement to close down more environmentally hazardous facilities located near low-income communities. I want people to be aware of the effects that these facilities are causing them such as cancer, asthma, heart disease, etc. It is not fair that minorities have to suffer from such illnesses only because companies and corporations are trying to make more money at others expense. Our health is important and we cannot stand by and let it be harmed. Our voice is crucial in this movement to shut down these facilities and our voice can only be gained through the awareness and knowledge of what is happening in our community.
Thesis
The acknowledgement that environmental racism exists is a necessity to end the cruel and unjust practice against people of color as well as to lead the movement to treat and diagnose the people who have blindly been affected by this form of racism.