“Chicago's Month-Long Hunger Strike Against Environmental Racism” — Vice News, 2021, 5:01 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4JNYY0Z4ro

This video examines environmental racism through the planned relocation of a scrap iron shredding facility. The facility has long operated in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, which is predominantly white and wealthy. Yet because the facility has been continually cited and fined for pollution, it is being relocated to an area that already suffers from a disproportionate amount of pollution. The new site is on the southwest side of Chicago, an area among America’s top 10 percent most vulnerable neighborhoods in terms of fumes, cancer risk, and superfund sites. This triggered claims of environmental racism (and a hunger strike by local activists) because the area is predominantly Black and working class. Loosely defined, environmental racism describes how environmental risks (like polluting industries) are disproportionately placed in communities of color. While an investigation is ongoing into the civil rights of the Southside’s residents, the practice of concentrating polluting industries in minority communities is widespread.

How might environmental racism be evident in your area? What can be done to ensure the impacts of industry are equitable, both in terms of the benefits and consequences?

From the video’s description: A small group of activists in Chicago's Southeast side just finished a month-long hunger strike to protest the movement of a metal shredder to their neighborhood, saying it will cause dangerous pollution and make their community sick. They're calling it an environmental justice issue -- and they see it as life or death.