Women In Environmental Justice

The racial injustice tied to environmental hazard zones is not a new phenomenon however the mainstream environmental justice narrative consistently overlooks this reality. The authors Bullard and Johnson, Miller et al. and Greenberg explain how people of color, specifically black women, created the environmental justice framework and movement. Bullard explains the environmental justice framework as, "developing tools and strategies to eliminate unfair, unjust, and inequitable conditions and decisions" (Bullard and Johnson: 559) around the burden of negative environmental factors such as, toxic waste and pollution held by communities of color. The authors illustrate how the racialized decisions and actions of government lead to the placement of a waste facility plant in an area already overflowing with waste "dumping sites" (Bullard and Johnson: 574). The environmental justice movement is a social …show more content…
The authors draw attention to the gendered aspect of the environmental justice movement as one created and sustained by the work of women. The article states that the women behind WHE are not just protecting the environment but they are also protecting the "cultural and social survival of their communities" (Miller et al. :63). This element illustrates the feminist politics inherent in the movement's framework. Feminist politics interrogate power and the water systems case explained by Greenberg derives from power relations. Greenberg argues that the government placed a disproportionate level of focus on water safety instead of water cleanliness and cannot financially support both issues. Flint's water crisis is an environmental mismanagement issue caused by neglectful practices that endangered the black community ironically as a case for national safety. Greenberg therefore is implicitly raising the question about who and what holds more value in our