Description
Analytical studies on environmental racism have focused on the interconnections between policymakers and environmental hazards in low-income communities to determine the degree of racial inequality. Yet, the majority of these studies ignore the arrival and permanence of toxic spaces such as junkyards and polluting industries impacting poor bayfront neighborhoods such as Logan Heights. We purport to examine this topic on two fronts. First, I plan to investigate the historical connection between the battle over greenspace between the Chicano Park takeover and the junkyard. Junkyards in Barrio Logan play a crucial role in how environmental racism came to be in this community. My second goal is to demonstrate how the resilience and need of a community through political mobilization willresult in re-building the neighborhoods that were destroyed and disregarded by policymakers. We will adopt a Participatory Action Research approach (PAR), in order to discover how and why issues of environmental justice have been at the center of community mobilization in Logan Heights for over 50 years.
Community Resilience Yes, Junkyards No!
Analytical studies on environmental racism have focused on the interconnections between policymakers and environmental hazards in low-income communities to determine the degree of racial inequality. Yet, the majority of these studies ignore the arrival and permanence of toxic spaces such as junkyards and polluting industries impacting poor bayfront neighborhoods such as Logan Heights. We purport to examine this topic on two fronts. First, I plan to investigate the historical connection between the battle over greenspace between the Chicano Park takeover and the junkyard. Junkyards in Barrio Logan play a crucial role in how environmental racism came to be in this community. My second goal is to demonstrate how the resilience and need of a community through political mobilization willresult in re-building the neighborhoods that were destroyed and disregarded by policymakers. We will adopt a Participatory Action Research approach (PAR), in order to discover how and why issues of environmental justice have been at the center of community mobilization in Logan Heights for over 50 years.