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Environmental Injustice In The Bronx

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The Bronx is an incredibly urban and populated area attracting traffic from all over. It is home to waste sites, distribution centers, power plants, and so much more. Though each building gives off a different type of waste, whether it be smog from smokestacks or diesel exhaust from trucks, each of these large sites that exist throughout this small area give off a fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. This matter is essentially what contributes to the difficulty breathing people experience as these tiny particles can become lodged in a person’s lungs over time. Studies have consistently found a strong correlation between PM2.5 and conditions like asthma, lung disease, and heart disease. (Rakia, 2016). The government has actually come outright …show more content…

They are the prominent cultural beliefs our society embodies, racism, and common production processes. First, on the topic of racism, I truly don’t believe that anyone can argue that racism is one of the main fueling forces behind this issue of asthma in the Bronx. Of New York City’s five boroughs, the Bronx is not only the poorest with over 28% of residents living below the federal poverty level, but also contains the highest concentration of minority (89.1 %) and poorly educated residents (30.8 % of adults have not graduated from high school) (Maroko, Riley, Reed & Malcolm, 2014). “Environmental injustice can be defined as the disproportionate exposure of communities of color and the poor (or other vulnerable groups) to pollution, and its concomitant effects on health and environment, as well as the unequal environmental protection and environmental inequality provided through laws, regulations, governmental programs, enforcement, and policies (Maantay, 2007). This is most certainly the case in the Bronx. The government even tells us that “low income, low education levels, as well as being black and/or Hispanic, are common characteristics that are associated with the prevalence of asthma” (Klein, 2011). It seems that racism has never really gone away, it just has become more subtle over time. This issue of racism ties into the second social factor, which is cultural

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Introduction The article Cancer Alley: Big Industry, Big Problem written by Trymaine Lee discusses the connection between health risk and the environment in the south, particularly in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The article explains the connection between poverty, and the location of industrial plants that expose people to toxic pollutants. Studies conducted on the United States show that poor people, mostly poor African Americans, are more likely to live in neighborhood that is close to industrial plants, which causes them to be more at risk for health issues due to the environment. In general, the article explains that in the United States, particularly in the south, there is something called environmental racism. Environmental racism can be described as certain people in certain areas are exposed to contaminated air, soil and water.

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The findings from this research have led me to be certain of the importance of how by just merely looking into a subject from the origin of it can make us understand the true cause of the problem. Often people believe in one thing because it was told to them as a child like “ you are just like your parents who also have asthma.” However, after examining the different triggers of asthma it is with more certainty that I believe the borough of the Bronx has to advocate for its community and the area in they live in. Without change the Bronx’s pollution will continue to affect the people and the hospitalizations will continue to be the highest in all the boroughs.

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