Ground Zero for C limate Change Essays - Environmental Justice

Ground Zero for C limate Change Essays - Environmental Justice Ground Zero for C limate Change Anything having to do with the physical world and developing a deeper understanding of it has always enthralled me. Accordingly, the field of biology, specifically climate c hange biology, is one which is I follow with keen interest . The independent writer Wen Stephenson 's article tackles the issue of climate change biology in a way that I found to be unique. His article " Ground Zero For Climate " discusses the sphere of climate chan ge and environmental conditions but through the lens of racial inequality . It was written out of a need to bring attention to "environmental racism"the disproportionate burden of pollution on communities of color, especially African-African communities in the South. The article was published in The Nation , which covers political and cultural news, opinion and analysis. As such, one can assume that t he audience to whom this article is aimed at is aware of climate change, its effects and dangers a s well as the need for environmental reform. T h e article opens with a description of the devastation wreaked on a once bustling small town by pollution. The opening line, " In the br ight sun, the streets at midday on a Friday were ghostly quiet. " serves to highlight the loss of activity, both social and economic, within the town of West Port as business closed down and citizens left to escape the onslaught of s moke from the nearby refineries. Stephenson goes on to describe the systematic and structural placement of toxic waste, incineration facilitie s, petrochemical plants and refi neries and polluting power plants within the vicinity of low income minority town. He also addresses the legislative war against environmental racism and the need for the spread of information regarding climate justice. The article opened with interviews from persons that had lived in West Port for decades. This is followed by highlight ing the presence of the problem, stating the thesis then giving historical data as well as facts to defend his thesis. In concluding, he amended his thesis. The thes is of the piece was stated and can be found towards the end of the article. "The central mission and purpose of the climate movement is to prevent runaway, civilizati on-destroying global warmingin other words, to create the n ecessary political and economic conditions for a las t-ditch, all-out effort to keep enough fossil fuels in the ground which is already about racial, economic , social and generational justice." The placement of the thesis allows the author to provide background regarding environmental justice and racism, cite examples where the phenomenon had taken place such as West Port Arthur and Carver Terrace as well as provide facts and figures from sources to prove the reader with an understanding of the thesis . It also gives him leeway him to expound upon his thesis and broade n its scope to include the present day world as the climate disadvantaged , not just lower class communities as seen in the following quote. " The question now is whether climate justice can be defined broadly enough to encompass everyonenot only our own commun ities, our own children, but everyone, ev erywhere, including generations not yet bornin ord er to keep even the possibility of justice alive on Earth. The idea of environmental racism is controversial as many persons choose to ignore the link between social issues and race, choosing to explain it away as a coincidence or as a result of a myriad of other plausible factors . However , the writer supported this concept by outlining facts supporting the prevalence of environmental disadvantage that poorer communities of color face , and citing reknown authorites on the issue such as Robert Bullard, the celebrated sociologist and activist , called the father of the environmental justice movement to confirm the existence of a racial link to the issue . T he use of emotive language and the presence of facts and figures to prove the writer's argument also made the article an impressive one . He used several real life examples, narrative strategies, presented facts, quoted authors and made commanding statements such as likening living in the

Looking Back at Rodney King and the L.A. Riots

Looking Back at Rodney King and the L.A. Riots Rodney King became a household name after images surfaced of him taking a life-threatening beating by four white police officers from the Los Angeles police department in 1992. After the four police officers were acquitted by a jury,  a violent uprising  broke out in Los Angeles, lasting over five days, and leaving more than 50 people dead and thousands injured. A Brutal beating On March 3, 1991, 25-year-old Rodney King was leaving an event by car with his friends when a police car on his tail motivated him to attempt to flee at 100 miles per hour. According to Kings account, he kept driving instead of pulling over because he was violating the terms of his parole- from a prior robbery- by drinking and he wanted to avoid trouble with the police. Instead, he kept driving and triggered a high-speed chase that ended when he pulled over. As King stepped out of the vehicle with his hands up police instructed him to get on the ground and they began beating him with their batons. Between four officers, King was struck at least 50 times and received at least 11 fractures. Nearly beaten to death, King was rushed to the nearest hospital where doctors operated on him for five hours.  Ã‚   Thankfully for King, a bystander named George Holiday had been overlooking the balcony during the brutal beating and recorded  the incident. The next day, Holiday took the footage to the local television station. The outrage and backlash from the officers actions was so significant that Rodney King was released from the hospital four days later  with no official charges filed against him. Conviction On March 15, 1991, Sergeant Stacey Koon and officers Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury in connection with the beating. A little more than two months later, the grand jury decided not to indict the 17 officers who were there at the time of King’s beating but did nothing. The four officers accused of beating King were acquitted on April 29,1992. A violent uprising  began in South Central Los Angeles. An truck driver, uninvolved in King’s case, was beaten and the footage was caught on videotape by a passing helicopter. The mayor declared a state of emergency and the governor made a request for the National Guard to assist law enforcement officials. During that time 1,100 Marines, 600 Army soldiers, and 6,500 National Guard troops patrolled the streets of Los Angeles. Heartbroken and feeling responsible for the surrounding chaos, Rodney King, fighting back tears, made a public statement and recited the following famous lines: People, I just want to say, can we all get along?† on May 1, 1992. Small Victories The nation waited in fear of future riots as the trial for the four officers began. Less than two months later, two of the officers- Koon and Powell- were found guilty by a federal jury for having violated King’s civil rights. According to  news  reports, â€Å"U.S. District Court Judge John Davies sentences both Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officer Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating Kings civil rights. Powell is found guilty of violating Kings constitutional right to be free from an arrest made with ‘unreasonable force.’ Ranking officer Koon is convicted of permitting the civil rights violation to occur.† Sadly for King, struggles with alcoholism and drug use led to further negative interactions with the law. In 2004,  was arrested after a domestic dispute and later plead guilty to driving under the influence. In  2007  he was found drunk with non-threatening gunshot wounds. In recent years, Rodney King has given several personal interviews including with CNN and Oprah.  On June 18, 2012, his fiancee Cynthia Kelley, a juror in his trial many years prior, found him at the bottom of his swimming pool. He was pronounced  dead  at the hospital. A Catalyst for Change Rodney Kings horrific experience with the Los Angeles Police Department was horrific helped to illuminate some of the myriad problems with police brutality. Images of the beating and the uprising  that followed live on in infamy as a symbol of the troubled relationship between police and the Black community.