Fwd: [BRC-NEWS] The Assault On The Environmental JusticeMovement

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.tbwt.com/views/rd/rd_07-11-00.asp

The Black World Today

July 11, 2000

The Growing Assault On The Environmental Justice Movement

By Ron Daniels <ronmae@xxxxxxx>

As I have noted in previous Vantage Point articles, today
when there is an assault launched against the interests and
aspirations of Black people there is a high probability that
the power structure will use a Black person, a black face
to be the point person for the attack. I have termed this
phenomenon the new Black on Black crime, Black buffers who
block progress. This certainly appears to be the case with
the Environmental Justice Movement which is facing a growing
assault spearheaded by the "Black" Chamber of Commerce and
the "Black" Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, Dennis Archer.

The Environmental Justice Movement (EJM), which I consider
to be one of the most powerful movements in the United
States today, developed as a response by Black people
and people of color to "environmental racism," the
disproportionate dumping of toxins and environmental
contaminates in communities of color. It began in 1982 in
Warren County North, Carolina when a group of courageous
community residents engaged in a prolonged campaign of
civil disobedience to block the state from storing 6,000
truckloads of PCB contaminated soil in a landfill near their
community. The issue was picked up by the Commission for
Racial Justice (CRJ) of the United Church of Christ under
the leadership of Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis (Minister Benjamin
Muhammad). It was Chavis who coined the term environmental
racism based on a CRJ study which showed that throughout
the South there was a pattern of locating toxic dumps
and pollution emitting facilities near Black and poor
communities. The CRJ study was supported by a milestone
study conducted by Dr. Robert Bullard of Clarke University
who published his findings in a highly acclaimed book
entitled Dumping in Dixie.

The struggle in Warren County North Carolina marked a
turning point in the environmental movement in this country.
Prior to 1982 the environmental movement was largely viewed
by Black people and people of color as a "White movement"
because of the focus on the preservation of various species
of endangered wildlife. As the awareness of environmental
racism increased, more and more Black people came to
understand that people of color all across America are
living in "endangered communities" because of environmental
pollution and contamination - conditions which pose serious
dangers to the health and well being of community residents.
Inspired by the example of the struggle in Warren County,
North Carolina and with Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis preaching and
teaching about environmental racism around the nation, the
EJM took roots and began to spread eventually encompassing
people from affecting communities among Latinos, Native
Americans and Asian Americans.

In October of 1991 more than 600 hundred environmental
activists converged on Washington, D.C. for the first
People of Color Environmental Justice Summit. At the Summit
activists, scholars and experts from communities of color
hammered out a holistic definition of the "environment" to
include all of the physical and social elements required to
build and sustain healthy communities. The Summit gave an
enormous boast to a movement which was already redefining
the landscape in terms of awakening communities of color
to the dangers of the disproportionate dumping of toxins
in their communities. Ordinary people began to challenge
the government and corporations for their failure to
protect communities from pollution and contamination.
As a consequence of the mounting pressure from affected
communities, local and state governments and the federal
government began to respond by enacting more stringent
environmental policies/ regulations. President Clinton
responded by issuing an Executive Order on Environmental
Justice designed to prevent environmental racism under
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


A powerful new movement was building momentum. In
communities around the nation environmental justice
activists began to score victory after victory by utilizing
local, state and federal regulations to compel plants and
factories to clean up their act and by blocking pollution
emitting facilities from locating in people of color
communities. In a development which sent shockwaves
throughout the corporate business community, a broad based
coalition environmental justice activists joined with the
St. James Parish Coalition for Environmental and Economic
Justice to block the sitting of Shintech, a massive
multi-million dollar polyvinylcloride plant in Convent,
Louisiana in a region which is already known as "cancer
alley" because of the immense number of polluting
facilities that have been located there.

In a sign of a things to come, the "Black" President of
the Louisiana NAACP came out in support for Shintech on the
grounds the community needed economic development and jobs.
A black face became the chief ally of an company which was
willing to put profit above the health, welfare and wishes
of the community. Fearful that the success of the battle
against Shintech might be repeated in other locales across
the nation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has enlisted the
support of the President of the Black Chamber of Commerce
and "leading" Black elected officials like Mayor Dennis
Archer of Detroit in an all out effort to blunt the progress
and effectiveness of EJM. Parroting the position of their
corporate sponsors in their disdain for environmental
justice regulations, black faces have become the point
persons in the effort to destroy the influence of the
environmental justice movement. The EJM now facing the
challenge of neutralizing and overcoming black buffers
hell bent on blocking Black progress.


Editor's note: The views expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of The Black World Today.

Copyright (c) 2000 Ron Daniels. All Rights Reserved.



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BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - General News Articles/Reports


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http://www.tbwt.com/views/rd/rd_07-11-00.asp

The Black World Today

July 11, 2000

The Growing Assault On The Environmental Justice Movement

By Ron Daniels <ronmae@xxxxxxx>

As I have noted in previous Vantage Point articles, today
when there is an assault launched against the interests and
aspirations of Black people there is a high probability that
the power structure will use a Black person, a black face
to be the point person for the attack. I have termed this
phenomenon the new Black on Black crime, Black buffers who
block progress. This certainly appears to be the case with
the Environmental Justice Movement which is facing a growing
assault spearheaded by the "Black" Chamber of Commerce and
the "Black" Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, Dennis Archer.

The Environmental Justice Movement (EJM), which I consider
to be one of the most powerful movements in the United
States today, developed as a response by Black people
and people of color to "environmental racism," the
disproportionate dumping of toxins and environmental
contaminates in communities of color. It began in 1982 in
Warren County North, Carolina when a group of courageous
community residents engaged in a prolonged campaign of
civil disobedience to block the state from storing 6,000
truckloads of PCB contaminated soil in a landfill near their
community. The issue was picked up by the Commission for
Racial Justice (CRJ) of the United Church of Christ under
the leadership of Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis (Minister Benjamin
Muhammad). It was Chavis who coined the term environmental
racism based on a CRJ study which showed that throughout
the South there was a pattern of locating toxic dumps
and pollution emitting facilities near Black and poor
communities. The CRJ study was supported by a milestone
study conducted by Dr. Robert Bullard of Clarke University
who published his findings in a highly acclaimed book
entitled Dumping in Dixie.

The struggle in Warren County North Carolina marked a
turning point in the environmental movement in this country.
Prior to 1982 the environmental movement was largely viewed
by Black people and people of color as a "White movement"
because of the focus on the preservation of various species
of endangered wildlife. As the awareness of environmental
racism increased, more and more Black people came to
understand that people of color all across America are
living in "endangered communities" because of environmental
pollution and contamination - conditions which pose serious
dangers to the health and well being of community residents.
Inspired by the example of the struggle in Warren County,
North Carolina and with Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis preaching and
teaching about environmental racism around the nation, the
EJM took roots and began to spread eventually encompassing
people from affecting communities among Latinos, Native
Americans and Asian Americans.

In October of 1991 more than 600 hundred environmental
activists converged on Washington, D.C. for the first
People of Color Environmental Justice Summit. At the Summit
activists, scholars and experts from communities of color
hammered out a holistic definition of the "environment" to
include all of the physical and social elements required to
build and sustain healthy communities. The Summit gave an
enormous boast to a movement which was already redefining
the landscape in terms of awakening communities of color
to the dangers of the disproportionate dumping of toxins
in their communities. Ordinary people began to challenge
the government and corporations for their failure to
protect communities from pollution and contamination.
As a consequence of the mounting pressure from affected
communities, local and state governments and the federal
government began to respond by enacting more stringent
environmental policies/ regulations. President Clinton
responded by issuing an Executive Order on Environmental
Justice designed to prevent environmental racism under
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A powerful new movement was building momentum. In
communities around the nation environmental justice
activists began to score victory after victory by utilizing
local, state and federal regulations to compel plants and
factories to clean up their act and by blocking pollution
emitting facilities from locating in people of color
communities. In a development which sent shockwaves
throughout the corporate business community, a broad based
coalition environmental justice activists joined with the
St. James Parish Coalition for Environmental and Economic
Justice to block the sitting of Shintech, a massive
multi-million dollar polyvinylcloride plant in Convent,
Louisiana in a region which is already known as "cancer
alley" because of the immense number of polluting
facilities that have been located there.

In a sign of a things to come, the "Black" President of
the Louisiana NAACP came out in support for Shintech on the
grounds the community needed economic development and jobs.
A black face became the chief ally of an company which was
willing to put profit above the health, welfare and wishes
of the community. Fearful that the success of the battle
against Shintech might be repeated in other locales across
the nation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has enlisted the
support of the President of the Black Chamber of Commerce
and "leading" Black elected officials like Mayor Dennis
Archer of Detroit in an all out effort to blunt the progress
and effectiveness of EJM. Parroting the position of their
corporate sponsors in their disdain for environmental
justice regulations, black faces have become the point
persons in the effort to destroy the influence of the
environmental justice movement. The EJM now facing the
challenge of neutralizing and overcoming black buffers
hell bent on blocking Black progress.


Editor's note: The views expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of The Black World Today.

Copyright (c) 2000 Ron Daniels. All Rights Reserved.


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