Introduction
Throughout centuries of sociocultural interactions and the related developments within the American community, the concept of race means baked into every facet of U.S. society. As a result, race-related conflicts and disparaging attitudes toward ethnic and race minorities occur to this day (Fredman, 2022). What makes the phenomenon of racism even more insidious is that it percolates into every facet of relationships within society. As a result, the juggernaut of systemic oppression is built, shifting the very perception of biracial people and people of color (BIPOC) to be altered toward negative stereotypes (Fredman, 2022). The described effects turn out to be drastic, causing racially diverse communities to experience tremendous injustice in every area, including environmentalism.
According to a recent article published in New York Times, efforts at minimizing the problem of environmental racism have been made, yet the controversial decision not to mention racism leads to questioning whether the proposed solution actually challenges the status quo and whether it might backfire as a potential tool for silencing the issue. By pointing out a visible discrepancy in the approach that the Biden administration has been taking to tackle the problem of environmental safety, the article under analysis sheds light on a more important underlying issue of racism trickling into every facet of policymaking in the U.S.
Target Groups
As it is evident from the article under analysis, the author focuses on two rather broad population groups. Namely, the article singles out African American people as the minority group that has been affected by the legislation and White Americans as the dominant group that currently represents those controlling the sociocultural narrative (Fredman, 2022). Remarkably, the article does not specify directly that the legislation focuses on African American people in particular, yet it mentions Black people several times, therefore, allowing to suggest that the regulation will primarily concern them.
Despite notable progress made in supporting and advocating for the rights of African American people, there is still a tangible gap between the two populations in terms of the extent of available opportunities and resources. The specified difference is evident in how each of the groups is portrayed in the article by Friedman (2022). Namely, the African American community is represented as exceptionally vulnerable to problematic legal standards and regulations due to the legacy of systemic oppression, its remnants currently being deeply entrenched into the legal system of the U.S. For instance, Friedman (2022, para. 21) uses the following way to describe the African American population as the group affected by the legislation: “Decades of research has shown that the people most affected by environmental hazards are largely nonwhite and poor.” Therefore, the article outlines the problem of systemic injustice suffered by African Americans and the likelihood of severe negative outcomes resulting from the specified community not being mentioned in the legislation directly.
Theories
To approach the described concern, one will need several sociological theoretical frameworks as the means of introducing different perspectives on the issue at hand and examining the outcomes. Specifically, the Conflict theory and the Labeling Theory are suggested as the main frameworks that will help examine the problem at hand (DeFronzo & Gill, 2019). By integrating the specified approaches, one will recognize the need to introduce more accurate identifications of the vulnerable population into the proposed legal standards.
Specifically, the Conflict Theory helps observe interactions between members of diverse groups through the prism of social inequality. As the existing definition establishes, the Conflict perspective represents a theoretical approach of dissecting conflicts within society as a direct result of systemic inequalities linked to class structures (DeFronzo & Gill, 2019). Arguably, the specified approach could obfuscate the analysis since the problem at hand implies addressing inequalities caused by racism and not classism. However, by viewing race relationships as a form of splitting the population into different classes based on their ethnic and racial legacy, the specified theoretical approach could apply. Namely, the proposed framework suggests that the emergence of environmental racism as the propensity to neglect the rights and needs of African American people in regard to their physical and mental well-being and the effects that pollution and the related environmental issues produce on it stems from the failure to distribute wealth accordingly due to the presence of racial biases toward the African American community.
Another framework that needs to be used to address the issue is the Labeling perspective. Suggesting that, with the division between different social groups, the emergence of prejudices and the respective intention to label members of the oppressed class in a negative manner is observed, the Labeling Theory casts inequality observed in the legislation in a slightly different light. Namely, the theory suggests that the negative labels are eventually internalized, causing irreparable harm to people from diverse and underrepresented communities (Fredman, 2022). Approaching the article in question from the specified standpoint will demonstrate how the failure to name African American people directly and address their specific needs in the environmental legislation leads to erasing the Black community from the sociopolitical and sociocultural discourse within the U.S.
Discussion
Though discussing the problem of racism and naming the source of the issue straightforwardly, the selected media source is not devoid of racial biases itself. Specifically, applying Merton’s typology o prejudice and discrimination will show that the author’s perspective also suffers from the lack of proper representation of the target community. As a result, both the article and the legal framework that it discusses fail to meet the standard of the unprejudiced nondiscriminatory category as the distinct embodiment of a truly fair perspective. Namely, while the legal standards unintentionally encourage discriminatory behavior toward African Americans due to deeply-seated prejudiced attitudes, thus, being a case of a prejudiced discriminatory, Friedman (2022) in piece takes a slightly different route. Specifically, while her intentions do not come from a place of a prejudiced attitude, they still represent a case of discrimination since the discussion is not focused on the African American community solely. Therefore, the media under analysis provides an example of an unprejudiced discriminator.
Data Sources
The problem of African American people’s representation in the American community has been a long-lasting and exceptionally complex issue. Therefore, the problem of racial profiling as a phenomenon baked into the foundation of American society becomes evident when considering the available statistical data concerning the implementation of environmental regulations and the management of the relevant community needs. Specifically, recent data concerning the levels of pollution exposure for different ethnic and racial communities in the U.S. shows that African American people suffer from extensive exposure to the subject matter considerably more than White Americans (Fredman, 2022). Indeed, as Figure 1 demonstrates, compared to the latter, African Americans suffer most from issues such as traffic proximity and volume (72%), proximity to hazardous materials (80%), proximity to chemical facilities (54%), proximity to water discharge facilities (21%), and similar threats (“Racial disparities in pollution exposure by type in the United States when compared to White Americans, as of 2019,” 2020). Therefore, the problem of African American people’s representation has been a concern for a substantial period of time.
Another source of statistical information regarding the issue of representation indicates that African American people have been largely affected by the discrepancies and injustices in the environmental policy. Released in 2018, the 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) portrays the problem of racial disparities in the management of environmental concerns quit clearly (Environmental Protection Agency, 2018). Specifically, the dataset in question depicts the presence of racism in the management of environmental concerns. Particularly, the map provided by the EPA indicates that the areas with the highest prevalence of toxic emissions and substances released in the air and water coincides with the areas with the greater percentage of African American citizens populating it (Fredman, 2022). The described trend indicates the presence of severe disparities in the management of environmental policies in relation to race within the U.S. In the specified context, the fact that the new regulation fails to mention African American people as the risk group affected directly by the phenomenon of pollution and the release of hazardous waste is particularly egregious.
Content: The Power Dynamics
Finally, the issue of the power dynamic within the article needs to be addressed. The content of the article unambiguously establishes that the present-day status quo within the U.S. sociocultural and sociopolitical environments is heavily tilted toward White Americans (Fredman, 2022). The described situation is accurately represented as highly unjust and detrimental to the rights and needs of racial minorities, specifically, African Americans (Fredman, 2022). Namely, the author explicitly emphasizes the importance of naming the African American community in law as such so that the specified population could gain some semblance of representation. Therefore, the power dynamics portrayed within the article reflects the current problem of racism and racial prejudices against African American people within American society. At the same time, the article itself mentions the African American community directly only a few times, which reflects the inherent biases within the U.S. community and proves that the concept of racism is profound and incredibly difficult to eradicate.
Conclusion
Due to its emphasis on a largely problematic aspect of the environmentalism policy promoted on a statewide level in the U.S., the article in question offers a new perspective on the issue of race and its perception in the present-day American community. Furthermore, the article establishes the changes in the understanding of race relationships and their dynamics on different levels. Particularly, Friedman demonstrates how the concept of race and the perspective on race relationships shape the management of specific groups’ needs, especially in relation to providing access to essential services and the ability to shape the political and social discourse. Overall, the article can be considered an essential contribution to the discourse surrounding the problem of race within the present-0day society. By outlining the problematic attitudes that the proposed legal standards encourage people to assume, the article demonstrates how the current legal system upholds and encourages the set racial disparities.
References
DeFronzo, J., & Gill, J. (2019). Social problems and social movements. Rowman & Littlefield.
Fredman, L. (2022). White House takes aim at environmental racism, but won’t mention race. New York Times. Web.
Racial disparities in pollution exposure by type in the United States when compared to White Americans, as of 2019. (2020). Statista.com. Web.
Environmental Protection Agency. (2018). 2014 NATA Summary of Results. Web.