The State of Our Neighborhoods Image from: Communities for a Better Environment Website
The disproportionate and unequal impact the climate crisis has on people of color and the poor. Pay More for Basic Necessities Volatile V l l Climate Closer to Toxic P ll i Pollution Fewer Job Opportunities SOURCE: Rachel Morello-Frosch, Manuel Pastor, James Sadd, Seth B. Shonkoff, The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap, Released: May 2009, http://college.usc.edu/geography/espe/documents/the_climate_gap_full_report_final.pdf, page 5.
Low-Income Families Pay More for Basic Necessities nt of Total Ex xpenditures Perce 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Food Water Electricity Lowest Quantile Median Quantile Highest Quantile SOURCE: Rachel Morello-Frosch, Manuel Pastor, James Sadd, Seth B. Shonkoff, The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap, Released: May 2009, http://college.usc.edu/geography/espe/documents/the_climate_gap_full_report_final.pdf, page 14.
n Populatio Comparison of California s Population and Poverty Rates by Race/Ethnicity 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Black / Asian / Latina/o / White / American African- Pacific Chicana/o Caucasian Indian / American Islander / Alaskan South-East Native Asian CA Population 6.3 12.6 35.7 60.4 0.7 Below Poverty Line 28.3 12.9 29.1 7.8 21.9 (SOURCE: US Census, 2006 American Community Survey, in GREENING THE COLOR LINE: Changing Demographics, Changing Attitudes on the Environment in California s Low Income and Minority Communities, by Christian Gonzalez Rivera; Center of Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University; and State Health Facts, Kaisser Family Foundation).
The Racial Wealth & Assets Divide Legacy of Inequity On average, people of color have 8 cents for every dollar of white wealth. Zero or Negative Wealth 30% of Blacks have zero or negative worth, vs.15% of whites. Retirement 43.4% of whites compared to 18% of people of color will have retirement SOURCES: Urban Habitat, The Race and Gender Gap, by Karuna Jaggar, in Race Poverty & the Environment, Fall 2008, pages 79-86; and United for a Fair Economy, The Silent Depression: State of the Dream 2009, by Amaad Rivera, Jeannette Huezo, Christina Kasica, and Dedrick Muhammad, published January 15 2009, http://www.faireconomy.org/files/pdf/state_of_dream_2009.pdf, page 7; and Applied Research Center, Race and Recession: How Inequality Rigged the Economy and How to Change the Rules, Released: May 2009, http://arc.org/downloads/2009_race_recession.pdf.
Chronic Poverty People of color are 24.5% more likely to be poor, and 54% more likely to remain poor or fall back into poverty. Latina/o families, that fall 89% three times below the federal poverty level, l compared to 34% of White families. Blacks and Latinos/as are 5-6 times more likely to live in concentrated poverty. SOURCES: United for a Fair Economy, The Silent Depression: State of the Dream 2009, by Amaad Rivera, Jeannette Huezo, Christina Kasica, and Dedrick Muhammad, published January 15 2009, http://www.faireconomy.org/files/pdf/state_of_dream_2009.pdf; and The City Project, Healthy Parks, Schools, and Communities: Mapping Green Access and Equity for the Los Angeles Region, by Robert García and Aubrey White, 2006, http://www.cityprojectca.org/ourwork/mappinggreenaccess/documents/healthy_parks_schools_communities_textonly.pdf, page 12.
Global warming amplifies nearly all existing inequalities. Sound global warming policy is also economic and racial justice policy. SOURCES: http://www.ejcc.org/climateofchange.pdf, page 7; and The Silent Depression_State of the Dream 2009, http://www.faireconomy.org/files/pdf/state_of_dream_2009.pdf, page 38
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Evelyn Marcelina Rangel-Medina Policy Director Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Ella Baker Center for Human Rights www.ellabakercenter.org evelyn@ellabakercenter.org evelyn@ellabakercenterorg 510.428.8222 2008-20092009 Sustainable Development Fellow Leadership Academy / Green Assets Program The Greenlining Institute www.greenlining.org may we seize the arrogance to create outrageously. soñar [dream] wildly for the world becomes as we dream it. ~ Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa