Have you ever heard that term, environmental justice? About 25 years ago, leaders in the United Church of Christ discovered environmental racism in a place nobody had discussed it before: the location of toxic waste dumps. Our denomination issued a landmark study called "Toxic Waste and Race" that showed a disproportionate number of toxic waste sites are located in communities that have a high percentage of people of color. South Chicago is one of those places.
A new report shows that 40,000 tons of oil spill waste from the Gulf Coast now is being dumped in communities that are primarily black and Latino. Here we go again. Just when we were relieved that the leak had been capped after four months, a new danger emerges. Robert Bullard from the Environmental Justice Resource Center just completed a study of the nine landfills that are receiving waste products from our country's largest oil spill: five of them are communities where a majority of residents are people of color. In addition, these sites in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi are not designed for hazardous waste. The only place that successfully halted dumping at their landfill is Harrison County, Mississippi, where residents are 71 percent white.
Attention must be paid. I'm grateful that the United Church of Christ keeps its eye on justice, through our church's wider ministries. Let's keep our vision on environmental and racial justice, as well.
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