M3.3 Environmental Justice

The various disparities in health that exist in the Unites States seem to be separated by ethnicity and race. Social determinants of health defined those factors such as income, education, and community resources that affect an individual’s health outcome. These social determinants exist within all commutes. The greater health disparities are seen among those individuals in low-income communities, who lack a proper education, or lack appropriate health care resources. Many times, health disparities are seen among communities of color. Minorities in the U.S suffer from poorer health compare to those of whites. The articles point out that African-Americans have lower health outcomes compare to all racial/ethnic groups in the U.S., even after taking into consideration income and education.

There is various reasons why many minorities in the U.S suffer from lower health outcomes. One of the reasons as stated in the articles is due to institutional racism. Institutional racism as a system that is designed to benefit certain races over others. We can see such system in place when we analyze the events in Flint, Michigan. Lead contamination in water in a predominantly African-American community has caused various health concerns. There is a lack of response from our government in all levels. If such incident were to occur in a pre-dominantly white community, the response to the incident would have had been different.

The incidents in Flint, Michigan and others like in Richmond, California, also brings about the issue of environmental justice. Many communities of color are surrounded by industrial areas that pose a great risk to their health. Such industrial areas are commonly seen among low-income communities, especially those of minorities.   

The Black Lives Matter movement focuses of the injustices Africa-American communities have faced over the years. The movement has brought forth the many injustices that the government has over African-Americans. The movement not only focuses on the social injustices, but also focuses on the injustices relating to education and health.