A Socio‐Historical Interpretation of Toxic Waste Sites

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Abstract
Abstract. At a recent conference in San Francisco, the American Health Foundation reported that “blacks may be more likely than whites to develop lung cancer from smoking” (Boston Globe, 4/11/94, 10). According to John Richie of the AHF, this is the result of biological differences between blacks and whites. The AHF study is currently part of an attack against the alleged tobacco industry's targeting of specific populations in advertising. This type of study is not uncommon. Similar studies have identified race and gender‐based genetic differences that are used to account for differences in public health. However, it is impossible to control for all environmental variables and link causality to genetic composition. Doing so reinforces claims that some people are genetically superior to others and lays a foundation for “scientifically” justified exclusionary policies. The danger in these studies is that they define race as a biological variable and ignore its social components. Recently, Robert Bullard and others in the social justice movement have attacked the definition race as a biological variable and empirically demonstrated the necessity of recognizing its social component. This paper builds on the interpretation of race as a social variable in a two step process. First, it empirically documents the existence of “environmemal nicLsm” in the greater Boston area. Second, it historically analyzes the conditions which have created existing biases.