Reading response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Reading response - Essay Example The white race is protected from pollution and other environmental problems more than any other race particularly on issues such as siting the waste facilities and degree of penalties. The government’s style of cleaning up waste also favored only the white people since they were given priority. It is unfortunate to note that even the administration which should protect its people also discriminated them against race (Cole & Sheila 58-65). According to the authors, some of the reasons attributed to unequal distribution of environmental risks are the current social practices and structures. The article reveals that the individual lifestyle is one of the causes of environmental risks. The minority groups are said to be residing around areas where there are high environmental exposures such as where there are contaminated fish and heavy industries (Cole & Sheila 64-69). I agree with the authors that a good number of minority groups is poor thus forcing them to reside in poor urban areas. The poverty nature of the minority groups also deters them from accessing better medical facilities. However, the government should put measures to avoid such kind of unequal distribution of environmental risks such as offering better housing, employment and health care to all (Cole & Sheila 63-72). Some of the intentions or conducts by the government such as discrimination are based on racism although the judiciary may want further evidence on this. It may be hard to prove racism in the court but the fact that environmental risks are common amongst minority group is enough evidence. The article claims that perhaps the challenge of environmental exposure may be influenced by unequal distribution of the siting process (Westra & Bill 95-105). According to the authors, the minority groups segregated themselves in places that made the government to marginalize them and pay less attention to them. This was also