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Few Americans see race as key factor in environmental inequality – WSU Insider

Few Americans see race as key factor in environmental inequality – WSU Insider

PULLMAN. Only 33% of U.S. households believe Black people are more likely than whites to experience environmental pollution. This is according to a Washington State University study.

A nationally representative survey of 1,000 households in the United States found that 59% more Americans believe poverty is the root cause of environmental inequality. Although this statistic is statistically true, only 37% of Americans believe that Blacks are more likely than whites to experience pollution. Even though this environmental inequality is true, some people still believe it is fair. In other words, it is up to those living near polluting industries and to work harder to move.

Dylan Bugden, a WSU sociolog and author of the study in the journal, stated that only a small percentage of Americans believe that environmental inequality along racial lines exists. Social Problems. This is a challenge for the environmental justice movement as they try to convince the public that it is true.

Environmental inequalities can include anything from proximity to polluting businesses to limited access water and green spaces to clean water. It also includes the ability and capacity to mitigate the effects of climate changes, such as being able or having air conditioning during heatwaves, or being able or able to recover from wildfires and flood damage. Research has shown that Black communities suffer more environmental problems than white communities with comparable income levels.

Budgen analysed data from an AmeriSpeak survey that was conducted in May 2020 for this study.  AmeriSpeak is a scientifically selected panel of adults that are representative of U.S. households. It is operated by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago.

Bugden compared survey participants’ views on environmental inequality to their responses for questions about American economic mobility and meritocracy. The underlying question was how easy it was to improve one’s circumstances by hard work and talent.

The study also looked at responses to the so-called racial hatred scale. Researchers have created a series of questions to help assess subtle beliefs. These include whether slavery or discrimination created conditions that make Black people less likely to succeed, and whether they can improve their lives by trying harder.

Bugden discovered a strong connection between the interplay of answers to these three areas and environmental inequalities. People who scored high on racial resentment and believed America was an economically mobile meritocratic country also believed that race did not play a role in environmental inequalities or were unfair.

I’ve never had a finding quite like this where the effect was that big, said Bugden. It was obvious that there was a link between believing in environmental inequality and living in a fair and post-racial society.

This connection was called color-blind environmental racism by the researcher. Many respondents believed that class, but not race played a role on environmental inequality. Bugden described this classic colorblind ideology as a belief that denies the existence of racism in a situation that ultimately perpetuates it.

Budgen pointed out that the Green New Deal, which combines social, economic, and environmental policies, may face significant obstacles because of the extent to which there is environmental racism based on color.

There is a paradox to this: if you make public racial inequalities in policies, you could trigger a backlash from an American electorate, he said. They may not believe them to be true, and are unwilling to use resources for their correction. This is an old story but it is something that the environmental justice movement will need to consider.

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