Communities of color are using this year’s Black History Month to advocate for health and wellness, including calling attention to environmental justice and equity.
Those who live in predominantly Black or African American communities suffer greater risk of premature death from particle air pollution than those who live in predominantly white communities.
Cathryn McGill, executive director of the New Mexico Black Leadership Council, said when states craft policies related to environmental issues, Black and brown communities need to be at the table, especially as they relate to health.
“If we start to say, what are the underlying themes and conditions and why Black children are being diagnosed with autism more often, or that we have infant mortality issues in certain areas,” McGill outlined.
A new study from Nature Climate Change found in less than 30 years, U.S. flood risk will increase by 26%, a risk projected to disproportionately impact Black communities, particularly along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
McGill argued climate change needs to be a “big tent” conversation to ensure all people, regardless of race and ethnicity, get equal protection.
“One thing that we can do right now in the Black communities is to create infrastructure,” McGill emphasized. “So that when issues come up we have the ability to address them, and we have the ability to mobilize our communities.”
President Joe Biden’s more than one trillion-dollar Build Back Better spending package is cited as a step toward reducing health disparities in communities of color. The package includes new funding for improving energy efficiency in affordable housing and boosting tax credits for renewable-energy generation serving low-income communities.