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Robert D. Bullard is Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University in Houston. His most recent book is entitled "Environmental Health and Racial Equity in the United States" (APHA Press 2011).
Friday, February 3, 2012 Black History Month: Wrong Complexion for Protection When Disasters Strike
The new book, "Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African Americans," places the government response to natural and man-made disasters in historical context over the past eight decades, from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Making disaster response equitable is a human rights issue.
Thursday, December 22, 2011 State of Tennessee is No Titan When Protecting Black Family From Toxic Racism
The long and hard fought war against toxic racism is nearly over for the Harry Holt family, an African American family in Dickson, Tennessee whose well was poisoned by the leaky Dickson County Landfill,located just 54 feet from the family's homestead property line.
Thursday, December 8, 2011 Moving Beyond Energy and Transportation Apartheid Through Climate Justice
Much attention in recent years has been devoted to green energy and reducing the human carbon footprint to counter the global warming and climate change. The two largest sources--electric power generations and transportation--account for nearly three-fourths (73.8 percent) of the CO2 emissions in the United States annually. Getting greenhouse gases and co-pollutants under control will benefit overburdened communities.
Thursday, December 8, 2011 Why HBCUs Need to Step Up on Climate Change (1 comments)
Climate change is not only an environmental issue--it is also an issue of health, social justice, and human rights. Climate change amplifies existing inequalities, especially inequality that has left African Americans, Africa, and the African diaspora behind.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 African Americans in Africa: Climate Justice and COP17
A 12-member African Americans delegation (students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), academics, human rights advocates, researchers and policy analysts, environmental and climate justice leaders, and Hurricane Katrina survivors from New Orleans) join thousands of leaders at the United Nations COP17 Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa to work on climate justice.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 Why I Returned To Texas Southern University In Houston After All These Years
I recently rejoined the faculty at Texas Southern University in Houston as Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs. My environmental justice career was launched at TSU in the later 1970s while conducting research and serving as an expert witness on the Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management, Corp. lawsuit, the nation's first lawsuit charging environmental discrimination using civil rights laws.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 A 20-Point Plan to Shrink Black Atlanta
The 2010 census shows a steady exodus of blacks from Atlanta over the previous decade, with the black population falling by nearly 30,000 people. Twenty trends account for this smaller Black Atlanta footprint--with the impetus kicking off in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.
Sunday, June 5, 2011 Atlanta's Proposed Transit Fare Hike Will Hit Poor and Blacks Hardest (1 comments)
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Board (MARTA) will be considering raising the basic fare from $2 to $2.50. The regular one-way fare on MARTA is up from $1.00 in 1992. The Board will vote on the final budget on Monday June 6. If the proposed budget is approved, the fare increases would go into effect on October 2, 2011. They will hit Atlanta's poor, black, disabled, and transit dependent riders hardest.
Thursday, May 26, 2011 Black Leaders Need to Weigh in on Theft of Black Health and Black Wealth from Pollution (1 comments)
Toxic racism has not only destroyed hard-working African American families' health but has also robbed them of their transformative wealth--wealth which resides largely in their homes and landholdings that could be past down to future generations. Toxic racism also adds to the widening wealth gap between blacks and whites. Currently, black wealth is less than 10 percent of white wealth.
Friday, May 13, 2011 Public Health Benefits of Dethroning King Coal in the U.S.
More than $243 billion in new investments were made in clean energy in 2010. Yet, renewable energy made up only 10.6 percent of total electricity generation in 2009. Coal is still king, accounting for half of U.S. electricity generation in 2009. Coal is cheap. It is also dirty, polluting when it is mined, transported to the power plant, stored, and burned.
Saturday, May 7, 2011 Transportation Challenges -- Roads vs Transit (1 comments)
Lack of car ownership and inadequate public transit service in many central cities and metropolitan regions exacerbate social, economic, and racial isolation--especially for low-income families and people of color residents who already have limited transportation options. Millions of Americans are left on the side of the road.
Saturday, May 7, 2011 A 20-Point Plan to Address Environmental Health Disparities
A "20-point plan" for addressing environmental health disparities is offered in an effort to build, support and strengthen the work around environmental justice, health and racial equity into the future. The plan emerged from a review and synthesis of three decades of research, practice and public policy.
Saturday, April 23, 2011 BP Oil Waste Dumped in Environmental Justice Communities One Year Later
While the media devoted round the clock coverage of the capping and cleanup of the gian BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, not much attention was given to where the oil waste was being disposed. One year after the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, the lion's share of BP oil waste is still being dumped in environmental justice communities in the Gulf region.
Friday, April 22, 2011 Environmental Justice Milestones Since Summit II, 2002-2011
As part of Earth Day 2011 celebration, the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University prepared a Timeline-Milestones report that chronicles the major accomplishments of the EJ Movement since the 2002 Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 New Environmental Health and Racial Equity Book Out in Time for Earth Day 2011
Using more than four decades of lessons learned, "Environmental Health and Racial Equity" chronicles the major accomplishments and milestones of the environmental justice and health equity movement, program in academia, near and long-term needs and collaborative opportunities, and effective decision making models that employ a racial equity lens.
Monday, February 21, 2011 Talking Clean, Acting Dirty: How Energy Apartheid Hurts African Americans
The movement to renewable energy is the preferred strategy to a clean energy future for the country. Who gets clean and green energy and who gets left behind with dirty technology is an environmental justice, social equity, economic, and health issue. The de facto energy apartheid policy of "talking green" and "acting dirty" hits African Americans especially hard--and ultimately adds to the widening health disparities.
Friday, January 14, 2011 Environmental Justice Movement Loses Southside Chicago Icon Hazel Johnson
At 1:42am on Wednesday, January 12, 2011, the nation lost Hazel Johnson, an icon of the Environmental Justice Movement in the United States. Nearly two decades ago in October 1991, Ms. Johnson was tagged the "Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement" at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. This unofficial title was reaffirmed at the 2002 EJ Summit II held in Washington, DC.
Saturday, November 13, 2010 Environmental Justice Groups Deliver "Call to Action" Plan to New EPA Region 4 Head
After meeting with Gwen Keyes Fleming on Wednesday November 10, more than three environmental justice, civil rights, faith, community based organizations, and leaders from polluted communities delivered an eleven-point "Call to Action" for Region 4 reform that demanded fundamental change, a new culture, and a new enforcement framework at EPA. The plan generally can be summarized in four words: transparency, accountability, ju
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Polluted Communities to Meet with First Black EPA Region 4 Head
Given the dire circumstances low income and people of color communities in the South find themselves, environmental justice leaders are calling on the new EPA Region 4 administrator Gwen Keyes Fleming, the first African American to hold the post, to reverse the deadly impact of environmental racism and establish transparency, accountability, justice, and trust as hallmarks of her administration.
Saturday, July 31, 2010 Over 60 Percent of BP Waste Dumped in Minority Communities
A significantly large share of the BP oil-spill waste, 24,071 tons out of 39,448 tons (61 percent), is dumped in people of color communities. This is not a small point since African Americans make up just 22 percent of the coastal counties in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, while people of color comprise about 26 percent of the population in coastal counties.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 Government Allows BP to Dump Oil-Spill Waste on Black Communities (1 comments)
While the media spotlight has focused attention on efforts at stopping the massive oil leak and cleaning up the spill, the same level of attention has not been given to where the clean-up waste is eventually dumped. Given the sad history of waste disposal in the South, it should be no surprise to anyone that much of the BP oil-spill waste ends up in Black communities.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Earth Day at Forty Still Leaves "Dirty Dumping in Dixie" Practices in Place (2 comments)
On April 22, 2010, the nation celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day. Much has been achieved in environmental and public health protection over these past four decades. However, much work remains, especially in terms of achieving equal protection and equal enforcement of our environmental and energy laws. While the nation goes green, "dirty energy" is targeted at black and other people of color communities.
Sunday, March 28, 2010 Greening Up While Cleaning Up Black Atlanta for a Healthy and Sustainable Future (Part 3 of 3)
Pollution and environmental health threats are not randomly distributed across the Metro Atlanta landscape. Race and ethnicity map closely with the geography of environmental pollution and health risks. Black Atlantans are exposed to greater health hazards in their homes, neighborhoods, workplace, schools, and playgrounds when compared to the rest of the city's population.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 Black Atlantans Stranded by Legacy of Inequality (Part 2 of 3)
As Atlanta goes green and sustainable, the city's African American population finds itself left on the side of the road because of residential segregation, inadequate public transportation, location of major job centers, and persistent inequality. This article examines the impact of racialized place on the city's transportation, land use, and environmental policies--and Black Atlantans access to opportunity.
Thursday, March 25, 2010 Black Atlantans Left Behind as the City Goes Green and Sustainable (Part 1 of 3)
The State of Black Atlanta Summit 2010 was held last month examined major challenges, barriers, and opportunities facing the city, often hyped as the Black Mecca. The central question raised at the Summit revolved around whether Atlanta's black population is reaping any substantive benefits as the city becomes green and sustainable?
Saturday, October 24, 2009 Poisoned Communities Put Spotlight on EPA Region 4
On Tuesday morning at 10:30am, October 27, environmental justice leaders representing more than dozen poisoned communities from six southern states will meet in Atlanta with EPA Regional acting administrator A. Stanley Meiberg and senior staff to present documentation of unequal protection and failures on the part of the EPA and state environmental agencies to protect low-income and people of color communities.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 New York Times Study Points to Failed EPA Regional Model
The recent New York Times headline “Toxic Waters - Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering” is clear evidence that the traditional enforcement role of U.S. EPA ten regions has been a dismal failure. Today, ten percent of Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals. Fundamental change is needed in the regions to protect public health and the environment.
Thursday, September 3, 2009 Time for New Type of EPA Regional Administrators
President Barack Obama made a bold move this year by selecting Lisa P. Jackson to head the EPA. Now he is set to select EPA regional administrators—ten important and powerful posts where fundamental change is needed, especially in regions where states have a legacy of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and resistance to civil rights and equal environmental protection under the law.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Sept. 5 Labor Day “Call to End Toxic Racism” Rally in Dickson, Tennessee
To highlight the continuing toxic dumping problem in Black communities, national civil rights, faith based, and environmental justice leaders from around the country are planning a rally in Dickson, Tennessee on Saturday, September 5, 2009. Dickson is located about 35 miles west of Nashville. The Holt family's 150-acre farm and wells were poisoned and their wealth stolen by the leaky Dickson County Landfill.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Dumping in Dixie: TVA Toxic Spill Cleaned Up and Shipped to Alabama Blackbelt (1 comments)
A major environmental injustice was perpetrated recently by the federal EPA's approval of plans to ship 3 million cubic yards of toxic coal fly ash from ostly white East Tennessee to a landfill in Perry County, Alabama, the heart of the Alabama "Black Belt." Millions of Americans have expectations that the Obama administration will change this unjust and immoral "Dumping in Dixie" waste disposal pattern.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 Environmental Justice Leaders Call on Obama Administration to Roll Back Bush-Era Wastes Rule
Environmental justice leaders are calling on the Obama administration to withdraw a rule finalized during the waning days of the Bush administration to revise the definition of solid waste. Under the new rule, unlicensed and barely supervised companies will handle hazardous industrial wastes,some of which are highly flammable, explosive and corrosive, that contain chemicals known to cause cancer and other health problems.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 Dr. King's Legacy Four Decades After His Death in Memphis
This April 4th marks the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis. Dr. King was called to the city in 1968 on behalf of striking garbage. Although Memphis was Dr. King's last campaign, his legacy lives on today in contemporary struggles to make African American and other communities of color healthier, greener, safer, more sustainable and more just.
Saturday, November 24, 2007 Toxics Tour Planned to Highlight Environmental Racism
On Thursday, November 29, a coalition of national leaders from around the country will meet at Nashville's Fisk University and board a bus for Dickson, Tennessee, a small town located about 35 miles to the west. The leaders will participate in the "Take Back Black Health Toxics Tour" of the Harry Holt family homestead that was poisoned by toxic racism and the deadly TCE contamination from the Dickson County Landfill.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 EPA Urged to Strengthen Ozone Standards to Protect the Most Vulnerable
Air pollution threatens the health of millions of Americans, especially those who live in urban areas. EPA's current ozone standard is not adequate to protect human health. The agency should come clean and set tougher new ozone standards at the lowest level to protect the most vulnerable in our society, including children and the elderly.
Saturday, July 14, 2007 Groups Seek NAACP Help in "Burying" Toxic Racism
Representatives from the National Black Environmental Justice Network traveled to Detroit as part of a delegation calling on NAACP leaders attending the 2007 convention to take on environmental racism as a national campaign. The group conducted a "toxics tour" that took delegates past chemical plants, steel mills, automotive factories, abandoned industrial sites, and waste incinerators.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Burning Deadly Military Waste in Blacks Backyard
The incineration of the deadly nerve agent VX waste water in Port Arthur, Texas typifies the environmental justice challenges facing African Americans and other people of color communities detailed in the new "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty" report, released in March 2007. More than 1.8 million gallons of caustic VX hydrolysate waste water will be incinerated near the mostly black Carver Terrace housing project.
