The Environmental Threat of Poisoned War
Students will get hands-on experience in the work of environmental activism by writing a short study of a community facing some sort of environmental threat, be it toxic waste pollution, illegal dumping, chemical releases in working class neighborhoods, etc. Students will write a short (3-4) page paper on the history of the community they have chosen, its relevant economic and industrial development, and the pattern of environmental injustice there.
The city I chose was Dickson, Tennessee.
Environmental Threat:
Poisoned Water
Paper clearly defines a specific at-risk community • Paper clearly shows how historic patterns of economic development and demographics left the community vulnerable and how industry and development have damaged the welfare of the community (See Out of Deepwood for an example) • Paper clearly identifies the individuals working to achieve environmental justice in the community, what steps they have taken, what frustrations they have encountered, and what remains to be done • Paper offers a clear assessment of the success or failure of these efforts • Paper exhibits careful attention to grammar, argumentation, and style • Paper is well-documented
Use the following Sources for Paper
Bullard, Robert B. “‘Nightmare on Eno Road Poisoned Water and Toxic Racism in Dickson, Tennessee.” The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endagers African Americam Communities, 2012.
“‘A Closer Look at a Toxic Dumping Case’ March 26, 2007, News and Notes NPR (USA).”
“‘Terror in a Tennessee Town: Government Makes Black Family Wait for Clean Water’, Bullard, Robert D, The Tennessee Tribune March 16, 2006 C2.”
“‘Tennessee Family Fights Environmental Racism’ by James Wright, The Tennessee Tribune, September 21, 2006, Nashville Tennessee (Nashville, Tennessee) A1, A3.”
Introduction: Other Race, Gender, and Class Issues by Jean Alt Belkhir, Christiane Charlemaine Race, Gender, and Class (Townson, Md.) (01/2008) Volume 15, Issue3/4.
Johnson, Glenn S., et al. “Dickson, Tennessee and Toxic Wells: An Environmental Racism Case Study.” Race, Gender & Class, vol. 15, no. 3/4, 2008, pp. 204–223. JS
