Some say that the term environmental justice should in actuality be environmental injustice. For those that have never come across either of those terms it implies the unfair and inequitable burden of negative environmental impacts on a particular group of people. A group therefore can be isolated by race, gender, class, position in the workplace, economics, or location.
The importance of understanding environmental justice truly comes down to our social costs of everyday living. We as urban citizens live a fast life. We are extremely focused on our work, our families and our free time. Yet we fail to realize that there is an unequal distribution of negative environmental effects on a percent of our population. There is a vast distortion of perception that indicates environmental justice is confined to pollutants, waste water, noise pollution and things of that nature.
However environmental justice at the end of the day is the unequal distribution to access of all things environmental. Look at the parks and beaches located in minority communities versus affluent communities one need not complete a survey to visually see the differences in the maintenance of them. Look at the distribution and availability of fresh fruits and produce in those same communities termed “food deserts” where large grocery store chains have abandoned and scarred communities leaving them with fewer alternatives further away.
Martin Luther King Jr. said it best, “an injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere”, and this is the philosophy we in the city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs must take to heart. It is our responsibility as parents to ensure that our communities don’t unfairly burden other communities and fight for environmental equality across the board. One group of people shouldn’t have to pick up the tab for the rest of the city.
It starts with educating ourselves, educating others and understanding the laws of the land. Through working together with non-profit organizations, church groups, schools, our elected officials and private companies we all can come together and find ways to distribute wealth, health and prosperity in our beautiful City of Big Shoulders
-Kellen Marshall-Gillespie mom of 3 is an entrepreneur, author, aspiring film maker and pursuing her Ph.D in ecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a native Chicagoan she is dedicated to not only her family but to educating and empowering the urban communities on the wonders of the earth and the environment.
Comments