prepared
by
Interim
National Black Environmental and
Economic
Justice Coordinating Committee
with
contributions from
Heller, Ehrman, White and McAuliffe,
and
International Possibilities Unlimited
The
United Nations, through international treaties and resolutions, has long
recognized that all people, regardless of race, color, or ethnic origin,
have the fundamental right to a healthy environment. However,
in the United States, environmental laws and policies are not equally applied
to all segments of the population.
People
of color in the United States bear a disproportionate burden of the nation’s
pollution problems. The term “environmental
racism” describes this insidious form of discrimination and also refers
to racial and ethnic disparities in the formulation and implementation
of environmental laws and policies. Hazardous
and toxic waste facilities, municipal landfills, chemical plants and other
polluting industries disproportionately impact non-white communities. As
a result, people of color have elevated rates of cancer, lead poisoning,
asthma, birth defects and other serious health problems. Yet,
the United States continues to ignore its citizens’ demand for cleaner
and safer living conditions, and for nondiscriminatory application of environmental
policies.
The U. S. government’s failure to protect the human rights of people of color
with respect to the environment violates numerous provisions of both the U. N.
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination. Under CERD, the United States has an obligation to protect
the public health of all of its citizens on a nondiscriminatory basis. However,
the federal and state legislatures have not adequately revised governmental
policies and practices to protect communities of color from environmental
devastation. Executive agencies
have failed to adequately enforce existing civil rights and environmental
laws with respect to people of color. The
courts have refused to overturn laws, regulations and governmental actions
that create and perpetuate racial discrimination. As
a result, the U. S. government has violated the principles of CERD by not
taking effective steps to address the causes and remedy the effects of
environmental racism.
