Applying concepts/theories from philosophy and social science to ethical issues in interpersonal, group, organizational, intercultural, and media communication.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Inferential racism in the U.S.
Saw this article (http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2014/04/minneapolis_air_pollution_is_racist_u_of_m_study_finds.php) and thought about our discussion today concerning inferential racism.
This is a very interesting article to me because I am a double major in communications and environmental science. After reading the article, I do not think that labeling the pollution as “racist” is the right label to use in this situation. It automatically sets up negative thoughts and puts people in defensive mode. As far as I’m concerned, the author of this article put this label on to get more views. The people who conducted the study did not use the word “racist” in their final report. Instead, they used things like injustice and inequality.
This article does a poor job of telling the reader why the current situation is happening. Instead, he just labels it as racism. That is all fine and dandy for getting views but it does not help solve the problem. The article should have addressed why it was happening and he did not write about that. After looking over the study, it looks like income level played a very important role in how much pollution one took in.
Is it fair to label this as racism or even inferential racism? I do not think so. I find it too hard to believe that people who build power plants put up structures in a specific area just so they can cause harm to a certain race. Or that city planners run a highway through a specific neighborhood in hopes of raising CO2 levels in that community. Labeling pollution as “racist” is just to much of a stretch for me in this case.
This is a very interesting article to me because I am a double major in communications and environmental science. After reading the article, I do not think that labeling the pollution as “racist” is the right label to use in this situation. It automatically sets up negative thoughts and puts people in defensive mode. As far as I’m concerned, the author of this article put this label on to get more views. The people who conducted the study did not use the word “racist” in their final report. Instead, they used things like injustice and inequality.
ReplyDeleteThis article does a poor job of telling the reader why the current situation is happening. Instead, he just labels it as racism. That is all fine and dandy for getting views but it does not help solve the problem. The article should have addressed why it was happening and he did not write about that. After looking over the study, it looks like income level played a very important role in how much pollution one took in.
Is it fair to label this as racism or even inferential racism? I do not think so. I find it too hard to believe that people who build power plants put up structures in a specific area just so they can cause harm to a certain race. Or that city planners run a highway through a specific neighborhood in hopes of raising CO2 levels in that community. Labeling pollution as “racist” is just to much of a stretch for me in this case.