State Rep. Ron Reynolds on Blacks & Earth Day

By Aswad Walker

While countless local, state and federal Republican lawmakers refute the existence of climate change, decades of scientific research strongly suggests it’s not only real, it’s deadly; especially to communities of color. And State Rep. Ron Reynolds, chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus (TxLBC) wants members of the Black community to know that Earth Day and other environmental-focused initiatives deserve and demand our attention.

“Tis Earth Day, we must continue to fght for equitable policy changes that address the environmental and public health disparities in our communities,” said Reynolds. “We see that 71% of African Americans live in counties in violation of federal air pollution standards and experience 56% more pollution than our consumption generates. Tese inequities consequently have resulted in elevated rates of cancer, asthma and other ailments.”

And Reynolds should know. He’s the only African American Texas legislator sitting on the state’s Environmental Regulation Committee.

“Robert D. Bullard, a fellow Texan and the ‘Father of Environmental Justice,’ defnes environmental racism as ‘Any policy, practice or directive that diferentially afects or disadvantages (where intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race.’ We must continue to center Black communities in our conversations today on environmental health and regulation,” added Reynolds.

Reynolds also shared some key statistics to highlight the importance of Earth Day and environmental justice for Black individuals, families and communities:

Climate change disproportionately afects African Americans. According to Pew Research Center, 57% of Black people say that environmental issues are a big problem in their local area — more than any other racial or ethnic group.

Black people are 75% more likely to live near oil and gas refneries. Exposure to dirty air can result in serious health conditions and death. Earth Day brings attention to how pollution can impact the health and wellness of Black folks.

Black communities bear the brunt of environmental hazards. Earth Day helps bring awareness to environmental concerns that they face.

Bullard and Reynolds are not alone in seeking to raise awareness in the Black community of the importance of environmental justice and the current climate crisis facing the planet. Word in Black, a groundbreaking collaboration of 10 of the nation’s leading Black news publishers, has produced a series of articles on the subject, many of which were written by Word In Black’s Environmental Justice Reporter Maya Richard-Craven. Check out their important work at www. WordInBlack.com.

Why should Blacks care about Earth Day?

By Aswad Walker

For Black people’s 99 problems, we tend to think the environment “ain’t one.” Take, for example, just a few comments by Blacks on the issue.

“Tat environmental sh*t is for them white boys and them fower-children white girls running around barefoot, feet dirty,” said Fenton Ralph.

“All that environmental talk is for Whole Earth-shopping, quinoa-eating, liberal white college kids who don’t have to worry about systemic racism, and have time and energy for saving the whales, dolphins, dogs, the planet and everything alive but Black people. Tat is, until they graduate and become the same conservative Republicans who are anti-everybody and anti-planet, as well,” said Elise Horne.

Tese quotes summarize much of what Black people have thought about the environmental movement, including its biggest day—Earth Day.

However, Word In Black reporter Maya Richard-Craven argues that Earth Day and all the environmental work that surrounds it, should be high on the list of Black people’s priorities.

“Do you remember a time when Black folk weren’t afected by climate change? Probably not, considering that the climate crisis has been hurting us for decades,” said Richard-Craven. “We receive little to no support when it comes to receiving aid during a climate-related disaster. But Black folk can get in the fght for climate justice because climate change is afecting all of us.”

In other words, environmental justice is not, what some have labeled it in the past, a “white” issue.

“We have to breathe this air too,” said Afrencia Farqua, a Houston environmental champion. “We have to drink the water available to us on this planet and eat the food grown from earth, just like everybody else. Te fact that Black people are not central to the decision-making rooms in Congress and in big business doesn’t mean we aren’t impacted by climate issues.”

Farqua’s words ring even truer when you realize the person celebrated as the “Father of the Environmental Justice Movement” is a Black man. In fact, he’s a local, Houston-based brother—Dr. Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University, and world-renown for his work fghting for environmental justice for communities of color.

And there are several good reasons why Bullard has been on this battlefeld for decades.

Black people are 75% more likely to live near oil and gas refneries. Exposure to dirty air can result in serious health conditions and death. From lung cancer to asthma, there are so many ways pollution can impact the health and wellness of Black folk.

In Richard-Craven’s article “3 Black-Centered Reasons to Take Action on Earth Day,” she noted: “Another result of climate change is extreme temperatures, a direct result of climate change. Around 65,000 Americans go to the emergency room for heat-related health problems, and over 700 people die from exposure to extreme heat every year. From 2004-2018, Black folk had more deaths due to extreme heat than most racial groups, with 1,965 deaths.”