Document Type

Article

Subject Area(s)

Epidemiology Biostatistics

Abstract

Environmental inequality is the suggestion that the working class, the poor, persons of color, and ultimately the economically disadvantaged are subjected to living conditions that may prove to be hazardous both personally, professionally, and also to the infrastructure of the urban communities that these people inhabit. These injustices affect not only housing but education, quality healthcare access, and access to employment. This article investigates the distinct relationship of environmental inequalities imposed in urban communities that are promoted by a prominent institution: the government. It has been suggested that the government is primarily controlled by individuals who are incapable of identifying with individuals who are residents of these urban communities susceptible to the threat of environmental inequality. This introduces multiple questions: Are political leaders less concerned with such individuals and is this why the needed attention in these communities is positioned at the bottom of the agenda if it appears at all? This, in addition to the lack of funding distributed among these regions for improvements, demonstrates the neglect of the government and how this maintains environmental injustice in urban areas.

Rights

This is a copy of an article published in Environmental Justice © 2010 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.; Environmental Justice is available online at: http://online.liebertpub.com.

Magwood, J.S., Williams, E.M., Glover, S.H.(2010) Prolonged Injustice in Urban America. Environmental Justice 3(4), 141-145. DOI: 10.1089/env.2010.0010

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