Environmental Racism

Recent U.S. wildfires remind us of the reality and persistence of climate change - especially for communities of color. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Climate change affects us all, as the wildfires in Lost Angeles showed us earlier this year – but some of us feel the impacts of it more than others. The phenomenon for this disproportionate effect has a name: environmental racism. And studies show that, due in large part to environmental policy failures and a lack of resources, people of color suffer the effects of climate change more frequently, and more severely, than white people do. In the face of this, the Black women featured below are fighting to ensure a brighter, cleaner, healthier future for everyone. Read on to learn more about their efforts. (Images of Nakate, Toles O’Laughlin, Taylor and Gunn-Wright are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Image of Sanders is courtesy of Our Climate. Image of Lavigne is courtesy of Peter G. Forest/Forest Photography, LLC. Image of Curry is courtesy of ValleyClimate’s Youtube channel.) Editor’s Note: This post, updated for 2025, was originally published March 1, 2022.

Environmental Racism

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