Environmental Justice and Asian Americans (2 of 2)

Part 1

Boston Chinatown

Boston Chinatown is no exception to this. Chinatown is a community in which a majority of residents are working class and recent immigrants. Few residents speak English or understand the ways that people can try to seek redress from the government in the US. Despite this, and to the tremendous credit of a dedicated core of activists, the community has been engaged in struggles around the impact of development for many years. Chinatown has largely been defined by the forces of development, driven by growth and decisions emanating from downtown and in response to the interests and needs of corporations. The construction of the Central Artery in the 1950s and the reconstruction of that highway today (the largest construction project in the US) next to Chinatown is a reminder of how much the community is at the mercy of development. Similarly, the growth and expansion of Tufts University and the New England Medical Center have bifurcated the community, dividing the residential from the business areas.

The Parcel C campaign was an effort in the early 1990s to preserve one lot of land for community use instead of a hospital garage. Parcel C was a defining moment in Chinatown for many reasons, not the least of which was that the resident position against the garage won, against great odds. For the purpose of this article Parcel C was the struggle that made it more and more apparent that the fight for community control of development was, in many respects, for EJ. After all, what uses a garage, but cars that further pollute the air? Of primary concern to residents of the community was pedestrian safety. Indeed follow up studies that myself and others have conducted have shown that there are many traffic-related injuries each year in Chinatown. The impact of air pollution from these same motor vehicles is also a concern and the community has ended up learning about both and pressing each case where they can.

Defining Parcel C as an environmental issue had several benefits. First it put the community in contact with various environmental activists and professionals, who might otherwise have not supported the effort. Secondly, it opened up funding opportunities from the US Environmental Protection Agency and foundations that have programs oriented toward EJ. Finally, it also directed community attention toward air pollution problems that are less tangible than noise or safety, but that may carry a significant health threat. For example, today we are seeking funding to study the impact of air pollution on the 125 asthmatic children (14% of the students) attending the elementary school in Chinatown. All of this added up to an infusion of resources into a struggle that was uphill all the way.

Today, the Campaign to Protect Chinatown, which grew out of the Parcel C campaign, has become the center for environmental projects in the community. We have conducted a US EPA funded study of traffic injuries (see footnote 3), which helped prompt the city to conduct an additional study of traffic which finally documented late night and weekend traffic volumes that residents have complained about for years. We have done a scientific survey of the community for environmental health that is published in the Journal of Immigrant Health. We are building a physical model of the community and using geographic information systems methods to map available data about the community.

Like many other communities that saw "environment" as something that white middle class communities were concerned with, it gradually dawned on Chinatown activists that much of what they were doing could be framed as environmental. Like other communities that drew on the environmental aspects of larger problems that they faced, Chinatown was able to expand their resources. And like other EJ struggles, the community has learned a lot about how environment can and does affect their lives.

Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Oakland

Yet Boston Chinatown is not alone as an example of Asian American EJ efforts. The Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) operates out of Oakland California. Unlike the community groups in Boston Chinatown, APEN was founded and sees its mission as explicitly centered around environment. Based on their needs assessment of the Greater Bay Area, they have chosen as a key community the Laotian residents of Richmond. Richmond which is largely African American and Latino has over 350 industrial facilities, but also has a rapidly growing and very poor Laotian population.

While APEN's work with the Laotian community in Richmond is not very old, they have set a goal of helping to develop an independent resident organization through which it would be possible to bridge the gap between the Laotians and other community groups. They are particularly interested in seeing that youth and women have a strong voice in such an organization. APEN notes that the Laotian community may face some unique risks compared to other residents of Richmond. In particular, this community practices traditional lifestyles that they have brought with them to the US that include fishing for food and growing vegetable gardens.

Further the Laotian community is isolated by language from access to information about environmental hazards. An incident in March of 1999 made clear why the work of APEN is so important. That month there was an explosion at the Chevron refinery in Richmond. Laotian community leaders met in the aftermath of the event to discuss problems with the fact that the county's emergency warning system is not accessible to non-English speaking residents.

Both the Boston and Richmond examples show that the EJ movement has extended to the Asian American movement. The growth of interest in EJ among Asian Americans, as among other populations, is often most noticeable among working class and poor people. It is, ultimately, this focus, poor people and people of color, that gives the movement a basis for having far reaching impact on fundamental social and economic issues.