Dumping In Dixie: Race, Class, And Environmental Quality, Third Edition

This book should be required reading in environmental courses.

OMG. I had no idea that this had happened and just how bad it was. Very good read.

Robert Bullard, through his work Dumping in Dixie, calls to question the complex and controversial issue of environmental racism. He argues that African-Americans and minorities are being denied and stripped of a safe and healthy environment. Americans in certain areas, particularly low-income and minority families, are bearing the brunt of hazardous wastes and poisonous substances. Factories and corporations are choosing certain areas where they know that they can avoid pollution laws due to the current plight of the neighborhood. As a result, people in these low-income communities are suffering all the consequences of these corporations and receiving none of the economic benefits. Bullard emphasizes that the environmental movement did not resonate and take root in low-income communities, and therefore, there is a significant discrepancy in environmental threats and government protection between whites and minorities. Due to a lack of resources, mainly education and income, environmental racism exists in certain parts of America. I feel as though Robert Bullard calls awareness to a very relevant and noteworthy issue in American society. Although he only uses a few small towns in his arguments, the fact that these issues exist anywhere is disturbing. Environmental justice did not resonate in disadvantaged areas, and the corporations and government are showing absolutely no regard for the people in these communities. People and places cannot be sacrificed, and something must definitely be done to prevent this obvious racism and discrimination. In terms of his main arguments, I completely agree with Robert Bullard. He does an excellent job of raising a very significant issue. Many people do not even think about the evils of society, especially environmental racism. I did not even consider the innocent people and communities that were being harmed by these factories and corporations. Bullard's absolutely right, people are disadvantaged, and are oblivious to the environmental racism that exists and what can be done to stop it. By calling awareness to these problems and most importantly educating people on this issue, positive strides will be taken to eliminate this racism. I thought that Bullard did a great job using tables to illustrate his data and further support his arguments. Although at times I found the work to be a bit data intense, the tables did a great job reinforcing the inequalities in environmental threats and government protection. Along the same lines, I felt that the different surveys and representative samples that were used gave his argument even more momentum and significance. The case studies that were used really added to the work, and did a good job of applying Bullard's beliefs to real life situations. In addition to the fact that Bullard used too much data that sometimes slowed the read down, I felt that his emphasis on just the South may have detracted from his point a little. Although I understand that the South has been home to a majority of the African-American population, but it would have helped his argument to focus on at least one town in the north, whether it was white or black. I do not think that this emphasis completely destroyed his argument, but it is one critique of his work that I do feel is justified. Overall, however, I thought that Dumping in Dixie was a very intellectually engaging and stimulating work that will make me think about environmental racism. The history of the environmental movement has a great impact on everyone in the world, and action must be taken to prevent these environmental discrepancies from occurring now and in the future.

Read this for a sociology class. Interesting material but most of sociOlgy is intriguing. The environmental racism is something you dont notice until you look around you.

In his book Dumping in Dixie, Robert Bullard contends the issue of environment racism. His exhaustive research is neatly packed into sections which continue to awe the reader; each section being filled with facts that prove that minorities are in fact living in less environmentally safe areas. These areas are the locations that large corporations choose to have their power plants and toxic waste dumps. Bullard proves that these areas are consciously chosen by corporations and the government so that they may avoid and escape pollution laws. Bullard, as an environmental sociologist, hit the target with this classic book. The book is a statement or a demand for the rights of people of color and poor communities to be protected. It stresses the widening health, economic, and environmental disparities which are all present moving into the 21st century. He uses as examples a few small, poor-income towns which are the location of hazardous waste. Through these few towns he explores the country's corporate hold over laws, namely pollution laws. Bullard's main stress point is that the environmental movement did not begin or grow in low-income communities thus allowing for "environmental injustice" and somehow permitting the exploitation of those who are less fortunate; those who are unable to make a voice for themselves and moreover, those who lack the education of such an issue. I think this book is a must read because it explores an issue that very few people are knowledgeable about. Before I read this book I thought I was aware of the environmental problems surrounding this nation. However, not only was I very ignorant in that field, I also learned much more regarding environmental racism and injustice. Through his use of countless and countless amounts of figures and data he is able to make to reinforce and back up every claim he makes. Even though at times I felt like was reading a textbook with all the data, the book is planned and organized in a matter that flows. As the book that laid the foundation for future environmental policy, this book should be read by everybody so they too may learn of the environmental injustices that go on purely on a matter of race and income.