Dr. Robert D. Bullard
The effects of racism on our country and in our communities have been a welcome topic during the Democratic primary race. From the impacts of policing to education to economic opportunity — even to busing — we have seen candidates discussing how to confront the enduring legacy of racist policies.
But a form of systemic oppression — one that holds back our community, sickens our children and cuts our lives short — has been nearly absent from the debate stage: environmental racism. It is fitting that the party’s next debate will be at Texas Southern University, where pioneering legal theories and sociological research in the 1970s laid the foundation for the national environmental justice movement.
My four decades of environmental justice research show that millions of Americans have the “wrong complexion for protection.” ZIP code is a better predictor of health than genetic code. Race is still more potent than income in predicting the distribution of pollution. This is not just a Texas problem. People of color in 46 states live with more air pollution than whites, Environmental Protection Agency scientists found in 2018.
