Table 1.

Examples of environmental racism in the USA

Incident	Year(s)	Hazard	Location	Description
Cancer Alley	1960s–present	Petrochemicals	Louisiana	Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch of land located in Louisiana along the lower Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, was originally named “Plantation Country” because it was home to a cascade of plantations where enslaved Africans were forced to labor. Today, Cancer Alley, a predominately African American area, is known for its pollution emitting, carcinogenic chemical plants, including 150 oil refineries, plastics plants, and chemical facilities. Research found that in Cancer Alley, 46 individuals per one million were at risk of developing cancer over a lifetime exposure to all carcinogenic air toxics in ambient air, compared with the national average of 30 individuals per one million.1
Rodney King Beating	1991	Police brutality	Los Angeles, CA	On March 3, 1991, White police officers were caught on video brutally beating an African American motorist named Rodney King during his arrest for driving while intoxicated. A bystander, George Holliday, filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage to a local news station. Four officers were tried on charges of excessive force, but three were acquitted and a hung jury for the fourth officer. Immediately following the acquittals, the 1992 Los Angeles riots erupted, lasting for 6 days, and resulting in more than 50 deaths and 2,000 injuries.2
Trayvon Martin Shooting	2012	Racial profiling	Sanford, FL	Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African American boy fatally shot on February 26, 2012, by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch volunteer who called 911 to report a “suspicious person.” Trayvon was walking home from a trip to a convenience store. While George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder, he was subsequently acquitted by a six-woman jury on July 13, 2013. Trayvon Martin’s death and the trial of his murder gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.3
Flint Water Crisis	2014–2019	Lead	Flint, MI	A public health crisis occurred in Flint, MI, a majority African American city with 40% in poverty, when the local government switched its drinking water supply from the Detroit, Michigan system to the Flint River and failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water. This resulted in elevated lead exposure to approximately 100,000 residents.4
Chicago Food Apartheid	Present	Food insecurity	Chicago, IL	Food apartheid, the result of systematic racism and oppression, discriminatory policies in the form of zoning codes and lending practices, as well as overall systemic disinvestment in BIPOC, most often occurs in African American and Hispanic communities. Chicago, IL, is one of the worst and largest areas of food apartheid where there is a lack or absence of large grocery stores that sell fresh produce and healthy food options. Conversely, these area often have an abundance of fast food options, liquor stores, and corner shops that offer foods with high salt, fat, sugar, and other unhealthy ingredients.5

¹James, W., Jia, C., & Kedia, S. (2012). Uneven magnitude of disparities in cancer risks from air toxics. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(12), 4365–4385. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9124365

²NPR (2017). When LA erupted in anger: a look back at the Rodney King riots. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots

³CNN (2021). Trayvon Martin shooting fast facts. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/05/us/trayvon-martin-shooting-fast-facts/index.html

⁴NPR (2016). Lead-laced water in Flint: a step-by-step look at the makings of a crisis. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis

⁵National Geographic (2021). Grassroots efforts take on ‘food apartheid’ in Chicago’s south side. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/grassroots-activists-take-on-food-apartheid-in-chicagos-south-side?loggedin=true