Environmental Justice

The absence of widespread knowledge concerning the concept of environmental justice and environmental racism has caused poverty as a social problem to remain unsolved and, in fact, continue to worsen.

SOURCE: Environmental Justice Blog 

According to the Census Bureau’s Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in United States published in September of 2010, there was an overall decline in the median income for Black and non-Hispanic White households between 2008 and 2009. “The decline for Black households was 4.4 percent, larger than the 1.6 percent decline for non-Hispanic White households “ (Census Bureau).  Although there was a decline in incomes for households collectively, this statistic reflects a higher decline for minorities yet no specific causes were identified to address the reason this is so. The National Poverty Center reported in 2009 that there are approximately 20.7 percent of all children under the age of 18 living in poverty in America. To further the exploration of poverty’s effect on the different subgroups, the figures illustrated that of those poverty-stricken children 35.4 percent were Black, 33.1 percent were Hispanic, and only 11.9 percent were non-Hispanic White (National Poverty Center). Both minority groups, which clearly are a smaller portion of society, represented a poorer demographic that exceeded the doubling amount for the majority of the population. The amount of income a family generates serves as a direct correlation to their standard of living as emphasized by both statistics. With that stated, the issue lies within the lack of effort devoted to researching and understanding exactly why the minorities are left with the short end and lesser half of living conditions.

“Most notably, blacks and Hispanics have poverty rates that greatly exceed the average. The poverty rate for all blacks and Hispanics remained near 30 percent during the 1980s and mid-1990s. Thereafter it began to fall. In 2000, the rate for blacks dropped to 22.1 percent and for Hispanics to 21.2 percent—the lowest rate for both groups since the United States began measuring poverty. By 2009, however, the poverty rate for both groups had risen to more than 25 percent” (Institute for Research on Poverty).

SOURCE: Peacemakervoice's Blog

Combined with the historical context and analysis, Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency followed closely behind the era of the Civil Rights movement where African Americans triumphed in their assertion for justice and equality. African Americans were just granted the same rights as whites who had already amassed a significant amount of wealth whereas African Americans were at a disadvantage. Arguably, whites can be described as always having an advantage of economic and monetary gain from the primary processes and stages of slavery. But there is still a substantial difference among modern day times which point towards the assessment of certain divisive factors such as an emphasis on race, thereby introducing the terms environmental justice and environmental racism.

Check out CNN's Toxic America website that notes the top five toxic chemicals and their regional prominence.

A skeptic may suggest that because the idea of environmental justice and environmental racism are both fairly new and race specific, it has not generated widespread awareness which contributes to the lack of a resolution for poverty. It is agreeable to suggest that when addressing a social problem that effects all citizens within a society or nation it is imperative to look at the problem as it relates to the whole, but that will only lead to a certain degree of analysis. Attempting to tackle a huge problem in its entirety is ineffective, therefore there is a need to access the root of the problem in order to stimulate change portion by portion. The largest group living in poverty are the minorities of the population within the United States. If this demographic ,inclusive to African Americans and Hispanics, were to receive critical relief and benefit as subgroups, then the social problem would be solved for the most part. Targeting the people who are hit the worst and the most will alleviate the overall problem, leaving only a small demographic, mainly the non-Hispanic white, to assist. Projected by CNN, experts assert that by “2050, 54 percent of the population will be minorities” which reflect a potential sky rocket in poverty rates in addition to the current statistics.

Resources

“Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009.” Census Bureau.

Census Bureau. September 2011. Web. 7 April 2011.

“Poverty in the United States.” National Poverty Center.

    The University of Michigan. Web. 1 April 2010.

"Who is poor?." Institute for Research on Poverty.

    Institute for Research on Poverty. 26 October 2010. Web. 1 April 2011.

“Minorities expected to be majority in 2050.” CNN.

    CNN.com. 3 December 2010. Web.