Current Event #2

Jadah Scott

April 25,2019

Current Event presentation: Climate Justice, Digital Media and Gender in Louisiana

Article

Canfield, Sabrina.2019. “Cancer Alley Residents Decry ‘Environmental Racism’ in Louisiana” Courthouse News April 25,2019 https://www.courthousenews.com/cancer-alley-residents-decry-environmental-racism-in-louisiana/

    Sabrina Canfield’s article is about the struggle that residents of St. James Parish because of environmental injustice. According to the article, the residents being affected by environmental issues live in an area known as District 5, which has been a target for resident future industrial since 2014. This place is known as “Cancer Alley” because of the many petrochemical factories that were built in the area. The St. James community had no idea that their home would harbor huge industrial plants. According to Sharon Lavigne, president of the organization RISE St. James, the parish stated that the district was okay with them using the land for industrialization, however, the residents of District 5 never agreed. Being that the residential community is 87 percent black, it is no surprise that the disapproval of the residents was ignored. Residents say they are concerned about air and water pollution that the industrialization would release into their community, as well as the process that placed the factories in their community.

    This article connects to the discussion of environmental racism and lack of care for the environmental health of communities of color. The article includes a lot of good information and statistics. There is also the input of the residents of St. James, giving them a good amount of representation. This article exposes the corruption of the parish officials and oil industry. It is important that the people in District 5 get the exposure they need to help their community to survive so I would recommend that everyone read this.