Climate Crisis is an HBCU Issue, Too
From theBEnote …
Climate crisis isn’t a green issue. It’s a Black issue. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), whether they realize it or not, are stepping up to protect Black communities from the effects of environmental destruction by designing innovative solutions to stop it.
Communities of color, and especially Black communities, are living on the front lines of the climate crisis and HBCUs are uniquely positioned to defend them. According to the Princeton Student Climate Initiative ….
Communities of color are disproportionately victimized by environmental hazards and are far more likely to live in areas with heavy pollution. People of color are more likely to die of environmental causes, and more than half of the people who live close to hazardous waste are people of color.
Princeton also reports that more than one million Black people live within half of a mile of natural gas facilities, and more than 6.7 million live in one of the 91 counties with oil refineries. Black Americans are 75 percent more likely to live in “fence-line” communities where air and noise pollution is prevalent, and Black children suffer from asthma at almost twice the rate as White children.
While Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities experience more damage resulting from the climate crisis, the environmental movement and the funding dispersed to it has largely been centered around White people.
HBCU’s have sought to change that.