Look around your city or town. Who lives closest to the airports, highways, chemical plants, or factories? What does living near these things mean for an individual’s health?
When we speak about racism, we must understand that it affects almost every aspect of our lives. A great example of this is how our current pandemic is sweeping through communities of color. How does decades of living in these environments cause underlying health issues that are not as prevalent in more suburban or affluent neighborhoods? What does this mean for our poor and POC neighbors, their health, and how we discuss healthcare? What does it mean if your living environment makes you more likely to be asthmatic? How can you survive a pandemic that attacks your respiratory system?
via The Johns Hopkins News-Letter
When discussing racism, it is important to note how people of color have continuously been put in situations that compromise their health and wellness. Environmental racism is the discrimination or lack of concern toward people of color, particularly those in the Black, Latinx and Native American communities. Environmental justice is the movement that works toward diminishing those differences.
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