Setting the Stage for this Assignment (Please read and understand in order to an

Setting the Stage for this Assignment (Please read and understand in order to answer questions below)
The big theme we have learned in this class is that it matters where you are born. The actual physical environmental location of your birth (an ascribed status) matters for your chances in life: chances for your health, your safety, your access to quality education, and your chances for economic success.
We return once again to C Wright Mills and his insistence that we evaluate our own biography and location in relation to history. This means, we ask: how did I come to live in this neighborhood, while others live in different neighborhoods? Is it all about individual choice or individual merit? Or, are larger social forces at play?
In Syracuse, we have seen several acts that have affected the South Side neighborhoods that are 84% African American. First, Route 81 was built and separated the city, displacing and destroying communities. We know that our lake is one of the most polluted lakes in the country based on the pollution that is put into Onondaga Creek. The city also decided to put a sewage plant in the middle of the South Side neighborhood, which called for the eviction of 35 low-income African American residents. These kinds of decisions are reflected in Learning Activity developed for this week. When we say “environmental racism” instead of “environmental classism,” it seems race is a bigger factor than class when we focus on environmental justice issues.
First, please watch clips:

Environmental Racism (3 minutes)

Water Rights for Pima tribe. (4.5 minutes)
Then complete the following three questions below:
1. What IS environmental racism and list examples from both the reading, “Solid Waste Facilities: Environment Justice,” as well as the videos. 2. Analyze from a sociological perspective, why this is happening? Are people in power trying to harm minorities? How can we understand this by looking at the larger structures and history and power that surrounds us?
3. Why are some people not that aware of environmental racism? What are barriers to fixing such social problems? Why do some continue to benefit from it?
Second, watch:

Camden NJ environmental racism and social justice (4.5 min)
Then complete the following two questions below: 4. What was the main finding in the Camden video on social justice?
5. What did we learn about our legal system and the protections ensured to us about discrimination? Be specific here and outline what happened and what it means.

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