The protests and carnage emerging after the death of George Floyd across the United States of America, an open can of suppressed emotions in the face of glaring inequality in governance especially as a certain race is held the largest share in the decision making process and minority groups and people of that especially blacks made to suffer from legislation and laws enacted by white folks.
Even offices framed with posters of inclusive practices stink of hidden toxic work cultures.
Overlooked events in history have caused feelings of racial hierarchy and supremacy to continue. This has continuously led to the flagrant disregard by big corporations big mostly by whites for environmental safety and the wellbeing of people especially those of minority groups, blacks, and people not seen as white who live in such environments, to the detriment of such people.
While agitations for black lives matter and the fight against white supremacy will continue until we understand and create systems that promote equitable distribution of environmental benefits no particular group of people will be willing to carry more of its burdens.
More and more people across the world have continued to pledge their support towards a system free from racial prejudices.
Environmental justice basically seeks to address the discrimination faced by people of other racial origins, those whose income places them lower than their counterparts.
Clearly, Environmental justice has to do with fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people. This means that race, color, national origin, or income should not affect the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies in such places.
However, the reverse is the case. Advocates of environmental justice in America decry the state of the poor and people of color living in communities that are habitually targets for situating facilities that can be classified as having a negative environmental impact.
They claim that it is no accident that people who live in polluted areas are mostly people of color and the poor. And that it is environmental racism to locate a landfill, a plant with toxic waste, and the likes in locations occupied by the poor and people of color, far from the residence of white folks.
Evidently, all men have equal right to clean water, unpolluted land for good health, clean air to breathe, and food.
Recent happenings indicate high environmental degradation. There is a clean water shortage, air pollution, a decline in biodiversity, deforestation, increase in sea level which represent a higher level of melting glacier ice due to ozone depletion.
Aftermaths of the activities of big corporations with no care for environmental impact and state of health of occupants of such places.
Racial hierarchy pictures black people as being less human and so are considered inferior to whites who are considered superior and more human. This belief justified the enslavement of black people in the era of slavery.
Years after the abolition of slavery, black people continue to suffer from a system that openly tells them that all races are equal and promotes inclusion at all levels yet systematically targets them as a way of dominating and ensuring docile they are docile.
Why should people of a particular race be controlled? This desire to remain dominant fuels actions that seek to establish that African American, minority groups and most people of color have criminal tendencies.
The assumption of guilt assigned to blacks and other racial groups puts people of this extraction at the mercy of an unfair administration of criminal justice.
Studies have shown that 'blackness' or the color of one's skin is strongly associated with the tendency for criminality, especially by white people. This is reflective of the biases shown in the course of policing and in the running of the criminal justice system.
The combined impact of the privileges assigned to dominant groups in the mistreatment of minority groups in a bid to assert it's superiority is a reason why some minority communities become choice locations for waste disposal and potentially harmful industries is a result of discrimination and racism.
Today's crisis in the criminal justice system is an outgrowth of racial injustice that can only be addressed by admitting to the country's unequal administration of the justice system.
It is pathetic to state as a matter of fact that support for harsh criminal justice punishments is predicated on the need to take out more dangerous and guilty elements.
A subset already marked as bearing these qualities are people of color. This has led to the use of excessive and aggressive tactics in policing these communities.
George Floyd died in Minneapolis as a result of this practice.
While big corporations are rallying in support of the black community on social media. We cannot pretend that they have contributed to the continued of blacks and other minority groups who suffer from unequal treatment, racism, and negligence.
For equity and justice to reign, structural racism and its attendant consequences of inequality in all spheres must be eradicated for all people irrespective of race, color, and income.
When whites and corporate America places equal value for justice, a safe and clean environment, and a premium on life, we will be better placed to face and advance an agenda that will chart the way for true equality among all people.
Today is the best time to improve the lives and living conditions of those presently suffering from racial and environmental injustice to create a better society that is devoid of racial equity.
A place where everyone enjoys the proportionate amount of environmental protection, equal prevention of health hazards, and equal participation in the decision-making process to ensure we all live in a healthy environment.
The cost for these changes may be big but they will eventually lead to long term benefits both for the American people who will end up as a strong cohesive body and minority groups and people of color who will, at last, get to sigh with relief at the feeling of true inclusion and shared values leading a more society which only prospers because feelings of humanity is shared by all.
The momentum that the Black Lives Matter movement has gathered across other nations of the world reminds us that the world is a global space with America as one major key player. Today blacks can be found in practically every nation of the world either as citizens or a part of the workforce.
This means they constitute a significant portion of the manpower needed to drive society whether at the national or international level.
It is important to consider the humanitarian conditions in which blacks and other minorities live, so we can make changes where necessary.
Right now, all everyone needs is to imagine how anyone can survive in the toxic state that blacks live in. Yet, they have survived. However, the cost on the mental health of the poor, minorities and blacks is enormous.
Let us take away the restrictions, perceptions and lies that have passed on for generations so blacks and other minority groups can walk about truly free, not scared of being targets because of the color of their skin.
This will drive growth both in America and around the world because America has to set the pace and practice in reality what she claims to stand for.
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