October 2nd, 1998

What Color is Suffering?
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

The time for healing of the wounds has come.
The time to build is upon us . . .
We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people
from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation,
suffering, gender and other discrimination . . .
There is no easy road to freedom . . .
None of us acting alone can achieve success.
We must therefore act together as a united people,
for reconciliation, for nation building,
for the birth of a new world.
-- Nelson Mandela

Did you know that many toxic polluting corporations decide where to build their plants or collect their waste based on the racial makeup of the surrounding community? Are you shocked? Surprised? Probably not. Racism permeates our lives on planet Earth - why should the environment be an exception?

President Clinton recognized this on February 11, 1994 when he issued Executive Order 12898, making the fight for environmental justice a federal policy.

(All photos from the Corporate Watch website)

This year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued interim guidelines for investigating complaints filed under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which bars any program receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.

State government programs and a series of environmentally hazardous corporate ventures in communities of color are being affected by these guidelines and pressure is on for the EPA to back off.

But this attempt by the government to do the right thing is under heavy assault from the country's worst toxic polluters who are forming associations to stop the EPA from applying civil rights law to environmental issues. One of these lobbying groups is the Business Network for Environmental Justice (BNEJ), a secretive corporate coalition under the direction of the National Association of Manufacturers. The BNEJ has demanded that the EPA issue permits for new corporate facilities "regardless of the racial composition of the surrounding community." Is there any clearer indictment of these industries?

It is unconscionable and obscene that people of color, people perceived as the powerless in our society, are dying every day from the toxic waste from corporations all over the U.S. and across the world. Too many examples exist of this phenomenon to list here. The Resources section below provides links that will help you understand this issue.

No more blatant example may exist of environmental racism than "Cancer Alley," an area in Louisiana that is impacted by more accumulated toxic waste than probably anywhere in the country. In the late 1980s, the entire town of Geismar, Louisiana - with a population that is poor and African-American - was moved two miles down the road because of toxic fallout from the neighboring chemical plant. Two miles!

Of course it didn't help, but you did not hear about this on the evening news, nor will you. Each member of the community signed an agreement, in exchange for $2000, saying they would never talk about the situation. This is common practice in out-of-court settlements between major polluters and people who are just trying to live their lives in small communities.

Community in peril

B.F. Goodrich was the company causing the fallout at the time. They sold the plant soon after the move, and the new owners do not feel they have to abide by the previous agreements with the surrounding community.

Because of the influence of groups like the BNEJ, the Chemical Manufacturers Association and the American Petroleum Institute, many state governments are protesting the implementation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as a tool for environmental justice. It is time for all citizens to remind the state governments who they really should be working for and to support the EPA in their efforts.

And please turn off your televisions and radios when the sex scandal garbage comes on. Resist getting caught up in that. While our attention is diverted by the media's fascination with the lurid details, people are dying and important pieces of legislation are being slipped by with little or no scrutiny.

In 1963, President John Kennedy said that the U.S. is committed to "achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Why was that so achievable while President Clinton's directive in 1997 that "we should restore contaminated urban land and building to productive use" seems so impossible? Corporations cannot be allowed to rule the land.

It is important to act now. Do not let the corporate polluters and poisoners hurt any more people and children than they already have. People in those affected communities need our help and support. Learn about their plight. Boycott the products of the companies causing the harm. There should be no preferred color of suffering.

RESOURCES

1. Visit the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council web site at http://es.epa.gov/oeca/oej/nejac/ and be reminded that good things are in progress.

2. Send an email message to the EPA voicing strong support for their environmental justice programs at environmental-justice-epa@epamail.epa.gov

3. The Witness to the Future web site at http://www.witnesstothefuture.com/ and get the video of the same name. This project will help you understand the trials and tribulations of people who are fighting for their lives. Get the video and CDROM from the Video Project at http://www.videoproject.org/videoproject/WITNESS_TO_THE_FUTURE...html Buy a copy for your kid's school or the school up the block, even if you don't have kids.

4. Find out what transnational corporations are doing at http://www.corpwatch.org/trac/resrch/resrch.html

5. Boycott the products of companies contributing to these problems. Find out what boycotts are going on now from the Boycott Action News site at href="http://www.learn2.com/08/0858/0858.html

6. Learn how to deal with common household cleaning problems so you won't have to buy the chemicals from the corporate killers at http://www.learn2.com/08/0858/0858.html

7. Email the President at http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail_President.html and let him know you want the fight for environmental justice to continue.

8. Buy and view the video, "We All Live Downstream," and then give your copy to a school. You will learn of the tragedy of the pollution of the Mississippi and all those who live along its shores. You can get if from the Video Project at http://www.videoproject.org/videoproject/we_all_live_downstream.html

9. Learn a little about how toxins affect your body and how you can protect your family at http://www.delicious-online.com/D_backs/Apr_97/pollution.html REMEMBER THAT BEFORE YOU TAKE ANY SUPPLEMENTS OF ANY KIND, YOU SHOULD CHECK WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PRACTIONER.

10. The Labor Community Strategy Center is worth watching at http://www.igc.apc.org/lctr/

11. See some of the real faces from Cancer Alley at http://www.witnesstothefuture.com/witnesses/cancer.html

12. Keep your eye on corporations through Corporate Watch at http://www.corpwatch.org/

13. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Tell them to resist pressure from corporations and to support the EPA's environmental justice programs. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html or you can search by state at http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html

14. Learn about the issues. Seek out books on the subject. A good source for used (and new) books is Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon at http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/associate?assoc_id=212 where you will find a wonderful alternative to the massive chain bookstores taking over the market.

15. Visit the Healing Our World article archive and check out the many activist links in past articles. You can find it under FEATURES at the ENS website.