Environmental Racism Group

As I was working on my final project, I came across this site: http://www.ehumanrights.org/index.html. The site was created by a group of advocates who fight for environmental justice. If anyone is looking for some interesting articles on current issues of institutional racism, check this site out. It has a ton of articles. The first linked article is about the U.N. stepping in to check out the United State's condition of good drinking water and sanitation for all citizens. During the UN's visit it is said they were going to focus on the conditions for peoples of low income and minorities. The following is the UN representative's findings: From my observations, the U.S. has achieved significant gains in eliminating formal or direct discrimination in law. Nevertheless, I am concerned that several laws, policies and practices, while appearing neutral at face value, have a disproportionate impact on the enjoyment of human rights by certain groups. For example, a study by Massachusetts Global Action examined the racial impact of water pricing and shut-off policies of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and found that for every 1 per cent increase in the city ward’s percentage of people of colour, the number of threatened cut offs increases by 4 per cent. I was happy to learn that the Boston Water and Sewer Commission has a “right of service” policy, aimed to assist low-income households to maintain water and sanitation services even during financial difficulties. Moreover, Massachusetts has enacted a law that prohibits water shut-offs during the winter and in certain circumstances, such as a household with an infant under 12 months.

I met Catherine from Alabama, who described a situation of an African-American woman, with a disabled child, who was threatened with arrest for not maintaining her septic systems according to relevant standards. The cost to replace the septic system was higher than her annual income of $12,000, and she did not have any possibilities to access funding. Furthermore, poor, disadvantaged, minority and indigenous communities are often unable to access federal, state and local funding sources due to technical, managerial and financial capacity requirements, among others. This is the case for communities from the rural South to the San Joaquin Valley to the Appalachian region.

The U.S. has made important strides in eliminating many forms of discrimination. It must, however, do more to ensure that not only de jure but also de facto discrimination is eliminated regarding access to water and sanitation.

To sum it up, the United States has come a long way. But de facto discrimination like institutional discrimination remains. I am really excited to look into this more for my final project.