BP (Black People) also affected by oil spill
June 24, 2010 No Comments
The Gulf oil spill has destroyed not only the fragile ecosystem off the coast of Louisiana, (even lives) but the way of life and increasingly, a culture, of people that have lived off the water for generations.
If it were in your backyard, what would you do?
Aside from the Cajuns, black people, descendants of the slaves, even those who descended from the French, still reside in the coastal communities. So do enclaves of families with Native American blood, but you wouldn’t know it from the TV and print news coverage.
As the black stuff ebbs and flows at maybe 100,000 barrels a day toward civilization, anger at President Obama and a British conglomerate is reaching a fever pitch. But since the accident happened on April 20, we’ve pretty much only heard about the half-Cajun or New Orleans fisherman that have lived off the water for years. But the African-American fisherman, just as dependent on the water, just as devastated, has been ignored. Until now.
Monique Harden, co-director and attorney for Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, says: “It is a fact that people of color disproportionately pay the price for runaway slicks, coastal land loss, and the significant health problems associated with exposure to massive amounts of toxic pollution, these are not the only costs.”
You can that again.
The Root has an excellent multimedia piece about the black fishermen that are in dispair over the spill and whose livelihoods are crippled.
Alabama and Florida’s shores are in eminent danger.
