This article explains the historical and current impacts of environmental racism on the health and well-being of Black people and people of color.
Students will learn that they can start fighting environmental racism by looking inside themselves, starting small, and connecting with environmental justice groups.
Teaching Tips
Positives:
This article is very useful in introducing the concept of environmental racism.
The language is straightforward.
The linked reports and news articles provide students with concrete examples of environmental racism.
Students can see that racist policies have led to people of color disproportionately bearing the burden of environmental hazards.
Additional Prerequisites
Students will need a device to access the links.
Differentiation
This article can serve as an introduction to the topic of environmental justice. After discussing the article, students can dive deeper into specific case studies of environmental racism.
Civics or government classes could research environmental policies that protect people from environmental injustice and find out if similar policies exist in their community. If they do not, students could write to their elected officials to request that a policy be put in place to protect historically marginalized communities from environmental health problems.
Other resources on this topic include this article on air pollution in the Bronx, this media literacy lesson on the connection between Black Lives Matter and climate change, and this TED video on the disproportionate effects of climate change on people who did not cause it.
Scientist Notes
This article provides the steps to disentangle the disparate effects of poverty and racism in a changing climate. Additional links have been properly cited, thus, the article provides a moral obligation for students and educators to act and end environmental injustice.
Standards
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.10.9-12 Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
D2.Civ.12.9-12 Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.5.9-12 Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.
Dimension 2: History
D2.His.14.9-12 Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.7.9-12 Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.
