Conversation: Robert Bullard.
In 1978, Dr. Robert Bullard was pulled into what would become, thanks to his efforts, the field of environmental justice. Conducting research for a lawsuit filed by his wife, he discovered that most of the solid waste in Houston was being disposed of in predominantly black neighborhoods. Black communities made up just 25 percent of the population, so he realized "that it was race" driving this inequity.The study didn't end there, but rather sparked a lifetime of advocacy and trailblazing. Bullard, who is currently Dean of the School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, went on to publish Dumping in Dixie, widely recognized as the seminal book on environmental justice. He helped plan the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, where the foundational Principles of Environmental Justice were developed. And in 1994, he was present when President Bill Clinton signed the environmental justice executive order, which required federal agencies to consider how their policies impacted low-income communities and communities of color.
More than three decades later, Bullard thinks the movement has "made a lot of progress," particularly when it comes to understanding that environment, race, and income are often linked. And, he says, there is still a lot of work to be done. Communities of color still suffer the brunt of our environmental ills, and climate change is likely to exacerbate these inequalities. Of course, Bullard isn't giving up. Pointing to the 2014 People's Climate March, he says he is invigorated by the new generation mobilizing around climate change, which he believes is the number one environmental justice issue of our time. As he says, "To see that many young people, that gives hope."
You are often described as the father of the environmental justice movement. How did you come to see that the environment, race, and economic justice are all Connected? Was there an "aha moment " where it all came together for you?
Well, you know, discovering this interrelationship between race, environment, and vulnerability happened in Houston, Texas, way back in 1978 when I was a sociologist here at Texas Southern University, where I am now. I was asked to collect data and do a study for a lawsuit that my wife had filed suing the state of Texas, and the city Houston, and the county of Harris, and this waste disposal company--the second largest waste disposal company in the world headquartered in Houston. In collecting data for that lawsuit I had ten graduate students in my research methods class in sociology, and we were able to pinpoint where all of the city-owned landfills and city-owned incinerators and privately owned landfills were located in Houston. And we were able to plot them on a map.
What we found was that five out of five of the city-owned landfills in Houston were located in predominantly black neighborhoods. Six out of eight of the city-owned incinerators were located in predominantly black neighborhoods. And three out of four of the privately owned landfills were located in black neighborhoods. Now when I say predominantly black neighborhoods, I'm talking in many cases all black. So we found that 82 percent of all the waste disposed in Houston from the mid-30s up until 1978 was being disposed in black neighborhoods, and blacks only made up 25 percent of the population.
So that was the "aha moment": to see these pins on a map in these neighborhoods that were historically geographically segregated and black, and not in other kinds of neighborhoods, when blacks only made up 25 percent of the population. So it was race.
How far has the environmental justice movement come since your book Dumping in Dixie came out in 1990?
Well, you know, we have made a lot of progress. We were starting from zero. We didn't have a lot of information. So over the last 25 years we have improved our research methodologies and the ways we do our science and do our studies. And we have been able to get the concept of environmental justice adopted, and it is pretty much standard today. Twenty-five years ago people were saying, "What is that? I don't understand it. You can't use race and environment--environment is neutral. There is no one group impacted more so than another." What we've found over the years is that the environmental concepts of disproportionate impact and of cumulative impact are pretty common.
Now what can we do about it? That's an issue that we are still grappling with in terms of the extent to which government should take action to force industries to clean up their act and to reduce the levels of emissions and environmental threats to communities. It's still a struggle. It's still a challenge. And communities that are on the front lines still don't have enough resources--financial as well as technical as well as other resources--to fend off these threats that clearly harm the environment and harm the health of the residents.
Where does the movement go from here?
I think the movement has to stay focused on dealing with environmental pollution, environmental degradation, environmental health, negative impacts, and cumulative impacts. We have to stay on those issues, because we can't let up. Even though some improvements have been made, there are still areas where communities are really bombarded with too much pollution. These communities are almost like sacrifice zones. They are hot spots that deserve targeted enforcement.
And at the same time, while we are also focusing on these negative impacts of pollution and environmental problems, we also have to focus our attention on ensuring that communities of color, and working class communities, and low-income communities get their fair share of the good things that result from our country moving forward to a clean energy economy. We can't allow those communities that have borne the burden of environmental degradation for decades to somehow also get left out of the things that are going to move us forward when we talk about a clean energy economy.
Whom do you hold responsible for the inequitable distribution of environmental ills, as well as the environmental goods you just mentioned?
Well, I think when we start allocating and dividing up the blame, I think there is a lot of blame to go around. And I think when we talk about the distribution of the locally unwanted land uses, or the "LULUs"--the things that most people don't want in their neighborhood--a lot of it has to do with land-use planning and zoning. Historically, we have had excessive discriminatory zoning that follows the path of least resistance, and too often, that has meant the LULUs end up in low-income and working class areas and communities of color.
If you look at certain regions of the country, you can see vast differences. We have 50 states in the Union, but all 50 states are not created equal. There are some states that have really done a poor job of ensuring that their citizens are protected and that the environment in those states is protected. And I can say emphatically that the southern states have been dumping in Dixie. It is no accident that the southern United States is the most environmentally polluted region of the country. And a lot of it flows from this, come on down, bring us anything, jobs over anything, and we will take it if other places don't mentality. That kind of mentality and that kind of thinking have driven the region into becoming the dumping grounds.
Do you think the goals of the environmental justice and the mainstream environmental movements are in harmony with one another?
I think the environmental justice movement came about because there are certain issues that resonate across communities. I guess the framing of environmental issues and social justice issues and equity issues--that framing actually is a centerpiece of the environmental justice movement. To some extent, that framing does not resonate in the same way in many of the mainstream organizations. And so in order for the environmental justice movement and the mainstream movement to really see the overlap, there would have to be a different set of principles and commonality drawn that would bring them together.
To bring those pieces together, that is a major challenge. And there are some who would probably say that we may not need to bring them together. And I'm one from that camp. I think we need strong environmental justice people of color and Indigenous organizations that work on those issues that are a centerpiece to those communities. But at the same time I do think that there needs to be more diversity within the mainstream organizations so that they represent communities when they go in and talk about these issues. So they are not speaking for these communities--that there are community members that are a part of these organizations.
What do you see as the most pressing environmental justice issue right now?
I think the number one environmental justice issue facing us right now is climate change. And a big issue is the extent to which our policies, and programs, and strategies will somehow bring frontline communities into the discussion, into the decision-making process, to ensure that whatever plans are being made to mitigate climate change and adapt to climate change include those communities that have borne the impacts first, worst, and probably longest. To make sure they are in the room and at the table so that they can speak for themselves.
And I think this is not only true for the US. Climate change is also the number one environmental justice issue globally. People who are most impacted around the world are also the communities that often times don't have the resources or the technical expertise, and don't have the political clout to force the powers that be to do the right thing, and to be fair, and to be just. And that is why we have climate justice.
What was your reaction to last year's People's Climate March, which was led by frontline communities? Did it give you hope?
Oh yes. You know, the march in New York was fantastic. We saw a resurgence of environmental justice, and climate justice, and youth, and students from all over the country. I mean, I came out of the civil rights movement, out of marching and demonstrating. To see that number of individuals,
and to exceed the expectations of the planners of the march and the event, to see young people really take the lead and own the issue and come together and talk about the kinds of strategies and plans that they will put in place once they get back home was fantastic.
I think that the march was probably the most diverse environmental event that I've seen in a long time, and I think it was planned that way. In order for this movement to address climate change to have, I guess, any legs--for it to take root in communities around the country--it must reach out and it must be inclusive. And we saw all kinds of individuals who made it to New York on buses and on trains, and who actually came there to stand in solidarity. I think they had planned for 100,000, and 400,000 people came. That's always a good sign that the issue is taking root and is resonating. And to see that many young people, that gives hope.
Zoe Loftus-Farren is an Earth Island Journal contributing editor. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Author: | Loftus-Farren, Zoe |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Earth Island Journal |
| Article Type: | Interview |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Jun 22, 2015 |
| Words: | 1916 |
| Previous Article: | Hiding in plain sight in San Francisco's Chinatown, and online, ivory carvings are easy to buy. |
| Next Article: | The fog of memory. |
| Topics: | |