IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM ON THE HEALTH OF MINORITY CHILDREN. Che P. Laing; and mentor, Rd. Charles Verharen, Department of Philosophy, Howard University, Washington, DC.

A close study of the dumping trends in the United States will reveal a demographic imbalance in patterns of toxic waste disposal. The consequence of this uneven distribution in waste surface through the increased deterioration of the health of the nation's minotity children. Because the environment is central to the physical prosperity of a community, concern over this phenomenoen is warranted, as government and industry continues to dispose of toxic waste in quantities that threaten minority community survival.
The study will examine that case of several communities with a history of toxic dumping, and a record indicating a rate of sickness above the national average. In addition, the prevaling definitions for environmental racism will be examined to determine their appropriateness.

The research will commence with a historial tracing of the rapid growth of environmental racism, beginning with landmark developments in Warred County North Carolina, the site which spurred the national environmental justic movement in 1982. The research will focus primarily on Black American residents, whose health reflects a pattern of toxic waste dumping disproportionate to their majority counterparts. This research will survey established links between ill-health and toxic dumping. In addition, a construction of the history of environmental discrimination from 1982 to the present will reveal dumping at unprecedented rates. The findings from these studies will provide educational insights, and contribute to the efforts of grops lobbying for a reformulation of the policies controlling disposal methods in the United Staates.

McNair Alumni