This Newsweek article details one of the issues touched on by Rothstein in The Color of the Law— environmental racism. Below I’ve attached tables and maps from Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. ‘s “Toxic Waste and Race in the United States” , a study that identified the the ways city planners concentrated industrial sites near predominantly black communities. Rothstein discusses the legislature surrounding this issue, but I was interested in how living near toxic industrial facilities impacts marginalized communities. This article discusses the health consequences of living near an industrial plant, including severe asthma that residents are often born with. The epidemic in Detroit, Michigan is so severe that blackmarket inhalers and packs of albuterol sell for $15 to $20 and $10, respectively. Especially heartbreaking to me was the story of 7-year-old Shiloh Otoo, a child with severe asthma. Overexposure to the steroid used to treat his frequent attacks resulted in brittle bone disease, which contributed to his obesity.
The boundaries drawn by district planners have real consequences for specific individuals. Despite the importance of these tables and maps, the communities impacted by them are more than numbers. Real people like Shiloh will suffer the consequences of a city or district planners decisions.
Charts and Maps from Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. ‘s “Toxic Waste and Race in the United States”
