A glance at the story
- Only 37% of 1,000 American households responded to a survey that asked them to believe that Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to be polluted.
- Numerous studies have shown that people of color in America are more likely to be polluted than white Americans.
- One study published in 2021 found that people of color are more likely to be exposed to harmful fine particle air pollution than whites and that Black Americans are exposed to higher-than-average” concentrations of pollution from all sectors.
Over a third of households in the United States believe that Black Americans are more susceptible to environmental pollution. A recent studyWashington State University.
There is a wealth of research to support that people of color are exposed to more pollution than white Americans. One study published in the academic journal Science Advances last year found that Black Americans are exposed to higher-than-average” concentrations of pollution from all sources like agriculture, construction, industry and vehicle emissions.
The new report is based on AmeriSpeakAn omnibus survey of 1,000 households in the United States found that only 37% of respondents believed that Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to be polluted.
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Dylan Bugden, a WSU sociologist and the study’s lead author, stated that only a small percentage of Americans believe there is environmental inequality across racial lines. This is a significant challenge for the environmental justice movement, which must convince the public that this is true.
Bugden was also able find that 59 percent of respondents believed that poverty was the root cause of environmental injustice, and not race.
The study also determined respondents’ general feelings towards Black Americans by asking questions on a racial resentment scale like whether they believe slavery has made it historically much harder for Black Americans to advance.
Bugden discovered a strong correlation between respondents who scored high on racial hatred and those who did not believe that race plays any role in environmental inequalities or that they are unfair.
The study revealed that only 33% of U.S. households think that environmental inequality is unfair. This means that they believe that those who live near high levels of pollution should move away.
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Published on Apr. 14, 2022
