The Global South And The Burden Of Environmental Racism’s Past And Future

Many people associate urban cityscapes with issues such as air pollution and industrial waste, but there are more insidious systems of environmental destruction that impact physical, social, and political worlds far beyond hyperlocal contexts. These worlds are all ruled by the pervasive and invisible structures of inequality and prejudice within society due to shared historical and contemporary experiences. Racism as an institution is often defined as “prejudice plus power”; that is to say, the holders of institutional power are able to leverage this in order to promote a policy of frameworks that puts people of colour at a disadvantage, globally. These frameworks affect every facet of life: from the food eaten, to educational achievement, to leisure activities undertaken, to occupational attainment. And it all starts with the environment, in our relationship with the space we live in through the effects of planning, policy, and pollution...