Common Folk Using Common Sense

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From BET.com (Black Entertainment Television):

If you thought Hurricane Katrina was a once-in-a-lifetime fluke, think again. Concerned environmentalists say that unless the United States gets real about the threat of global warming, African Americans and other people of color can expect a repeat of disasters like Katrina.

What about other people without color? Are whites immune to the Earth’s natural disasters?

And what colors are you talking about? What about those people from Mexico and Latin America? What about those from the South Pacific? What about American Indians?

But this insane screed continues:

That’s [global warming] bad news, especially for African Americans. Citing Katrina as a case-in-point, some environmentalists say global warming impacts minorities and the disadvantaged harder than other groups.

I might understand the statement if it had read “global warming impacts the poor”, but it specifically said “minorities”. Certainly not all minorities are poor. Certainly not all members of a minority are poor. Certainly global warming, even if it exists, does not impact minorities harder than other groups.

Relatively, Blacks are environmental Good Samaritans. Per capita, we emit approximately 20 percent less carbon dioxide than Whites – well below 2020 targets set by the U.S. Climate Stewardship Act. Not only do we use more energy-conserving public transportation, we spend considerably less per capita on energy-intensive material goods.

Yet Blacks are exposed to worse air pollution than Whites in every major metropolitan area.

I have never seen such a study. Where is the data that shows that per capita, blacks emit approximately 20 percent less carbon dioxide than whites? That is utterly asinine.

Blacks are not exposed to any worse air pollution than anyone else living in any major metropolitan area. They’re making an assumption that all blacks live within a major city while all whites live way out in the suburbs. This is an old stereotype. In Atlanta whites are moving back into the city while blacks are moving to the suburbs.

The correct wording would be “people living inside a major metropolitan area are exposed to worse air pollution than people living outside a major metropolitan area”. If you choose to live within a city then any air pollution you are exposed to seems to be due to your choices, not because of your race.

This article is childish, pandering to baseless fears and prejudices, and the perpetuation of racial stereotypes. I was waiting to see if the article would say something about blacks having thicker hands due to all the cotton picking they have to do all day.

Black Entertainment Television, Katrina, global warming, African American, minorities

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