There are three basic steps involved in reducing environmental racism as it relates to toxics:
1) be able to identify the cases of environmental racism,
2) determine correlations between cause and effect,
3) provide solid solutions in the social justice realm coupled with sound scientific remedies.
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The Silent Violence of Environmental Racism
in
Bayview Hunter's Point
by
Dennis English
The smell of bleach filled the air as the San Francisco City & County street-cleaning machine moves through the early morning darkness heading southeast on Third Street. The driver of the street-cleaning machine peered ahead, first onto the roadway and then onto the sidewalk. The driver recognizes the same group of fellows standing on the street corners. It seems as though every time the driver reaches this part of the city, the rules change.
Normally, cars are given tickets if they are found in a “No Parking” zone on street cleaning day. But in these parts, the unarmed parking meter patrol officers are afraid of getting shot when approaching the dope dealers and hustlers on the streets of Bayview Hunter’s Point. As a result, the street cleaning machine drives on, not even picking up the cluttered leaves, malt liquor bottles and other garbage lodged underneath the un-ticketed Cadillac’s and escalades. The dealers and hustlers continue on with their business oblivious to the noisy street-cleaning machine as it passes by their turf. If there are any indicators of the remnants of the Wild West, this is it.
Failure to clean the streets of Bayview Hunters’s Point on a regular basis is not the fault of the Department of Public Works, nor is it the fault of the parking meter patrol officers, nor is it the fault of the infamous hustlers and dope dealers. The problem is symptomatic of a much larger illness. Even former Mayor Willie Brown acknowledged that much of the city’s attitude towards Bayview Hunters’s Point is “unresponsive, hidebound and racist (Williams 2004).” Specifically, environmental racism is at the root of much of the anomalies that present themselves in Bayview Hunter’s Point.
This
complex relationship between the disease of environmental racism and the
physical and psychological symptoms presented by those who interact and
live in Bayview Hunter’s Point is the real contributors to the ongoing
illegal drug trade; the perpetuation of the welfare family, the parasitic
businesses, the continued release of toxic/radioactive substances into the
local community; and the looming threat of gentrification of Bayview
Hunters’s Point.
First of all, the silent violence of environmental racism contributes to the ongoing illegal drug trade in Bayview Hunter’s Point as evident in the lack of enforcement of laws designed to protect the minimum standards for quality of life. Along with the illegal drug activities in Bayview Hunter’s Point, prostitution and petty crimes proliferate unchecked. Many of the participants in these illegal drug activities are those who sell and are addicted to heroin, crack cocaine, and speed. The end product of this deadly mixture of ill will and dependency are episodes of violence, resulting in murder.
According to Rachel Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle “…there are now more than 100 unsolved killings in recent years in San Francisco, and many of the victims are African-American.” Instead of establishing a community-based police force works and lives in Bayview Hunter’s Point, the City uses outside strike teams to deal with the community’s problem of drugs and crime.
Recently, the newly elected Mayor Gavin Newsom wanted to change the way the murders were being investigated. Mayor Newsom visited Bayview Hunter’s Point and announced that he was doubling the reward for leads to the conviction of the murders of Curtis Lane and Brian Williams. The reward amount for these two murders was announced at the Bay View housing projects by Mayor Newsom to be $100,000. Mayor Newsom quoted in Gordon’s article as saying “Hopefully in some way, some small way, these rewards today can advance our efforts and clear some of these cases and restore a sense of confidence.” Mayor Newsom also announced that there is a $10,000 reward for the information and arrest of the person(s) involved in the murder of Scharod Fleming and Carl Douglas Jr. both shoot down cold blooded in Bayview Hunter’s Point within the past year. Even though recent attempts have been made by the current mayor to solve certain murder cases, the last sixty years in Bayview Hunter’s Point has been marked with neglect and utter contempt for the African-American, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino residents on the part of the law..
Bayview Hunter’s Point is predominately African-American, about 48 percent. The Asian population comprises 24 percent of the population followed by the Hispanic/Latino with 17 percent. Whites and others comprise 11 percent of the population of Bayview Hunter’s Point, according to the University of California San Francisco’s Community Profile of Bay-view/Hunter’s Point (2004). The profile also indicates that the leading causes of death of Bayview Hunter’s Point males are: homicide, HIV/AIDS, and heart disease, whereas for females in BVHP, the leading causes of death are: heart disease, breast cancer, and stroke.
The silent violence of environmental racism also contributes to the perpetuation of an economy based on fatherless households and parasitic businesses selling unhealthy foods to the residents of BVHP. For example, in order to qualify for most federal government housing assistance programs, the top priority households are the fatherless ones headed by a single mother, by default, many of the Bayview Hunter’s Point households are fatherless. The lack of fathers in the homes contributes to many young males seeking role models out on the streets. As stated, the streets have an array of dope dealers and hustlers who would be happy to stand in as father figures and mold their protégés into runners for the drug trade.
For many of these young men, thinking like a traditional family man is career limiting. The contrasting criminal life is a less arduous path to economic gain. Unfortunately, many of these youth seek out unsavory father figures, as depicted in the media, especially in Hollywood motion pictures. The criminal life is glamorized in the motion pictures. Our youth watch movies with big screen heroes such as Al Pachino, Tu Pac Shakur, and the Terminator. Then Art imitates life in Bayview Hunter’s Point. Violence, disrespect of women, and death are what these role models encourage in their prote’ge’s. .
Of
particular frustration are the parasitic businesses selling unhealthy
foods tot he residents of the Bayview Hunter’s Point. For example, some of the stores
that sell food in Bayview Hunter’s Point not only push salty, high
preservative snack type products, but also their share of cigarettes and
alcohol, all of which contribute to the poor health of the residents. Hypertension, heart disease,
diabetes, and obesity are suffered by many of the residents. In addition, many such businesses
abet the food stamp cheating and condone the drug dealing that goes on in
front of their stores, thus contributing to the proliferation of the
illegal drug trade.
Another aspect of environmental racism is the release of toxic and radioactive substances into Bayview Hunter’s Point. According to an UCSF community profile, “People living in Bayview Hunter’s Point have a much higher incidence of asthma and other respiratory illnesses than those living other parts of the City.” The profile also indicates “African-Americans – who have a higher overall rate of birth defects – comprise 63% of the births in Bay-view/Hunters Point, compared to 12% of births in the rest of San Francisco.”
The surrounding environment plays a significant factor in the residents of Bayview Hunter’s Point health status. Even though shipbuilding of the golden age of sail existed before the arrival of the majority of the residents of Bayview Hunter’s Point, the methods involved in the manufacture and maintenance of these vessels does not display the residual toxic effects of vessels utilized in the last 60 years. The atomic age came in like a whirlwind to Bayview Hunter’s Point. Residents survived WWII and the cold war but not without involuntarily sacrificing themselves in the name of global democracy. The testing of the atomic bomb in the South Pacific resulted in the United States Navy decommissioning a number of ships in ‘operation cross roads’ while they were dry-docked at the Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard. The decommissioning process involved the sand blasting of the hulls of the ships of ‘operation cross roads’ to rid them of any radioactive residues from the atomic bomb fallout. During this sandblasting process, clouds of dust would rise up out of the shipyard and spread out into the San Francisco Bay and the local neighborhood of BVHP. These clouds of dust contained radioactive fallout substances emitting alpha, beta and gamma rays for a period of sixty years.
In a government study of chronic
exposure to ionizing radiation (Wald, 1995), it was found that symptoms of
radiation exposure can be determined from blood tests. Wald says, “The earliest indicator is a fall
in the lymphocyte count…for dose up to 300 rad, the rate of fall in
circulating lymphocytes is related directly to dose.” This means that
extensive long-term exposure to ionizing radiation in excess of background
values will show up as immune problems for those exposed over the 60-year
lifespan of the radioactive isotope most likely sandblasted from the
Operation Crossroads ships.
In addition, Wald indicates that “A useful and sensitive biomarker
for dose estimation in acute whole-body radiation exposures, as well as to
predict the long term health risks on large population exposed to low
levels of radiation is the chromosomal abnormalities, particularly
dicentric chromosomes.” A chapter in the book Chemical Sensitivity
by Bonnye Matthews indicates that this interaction between “the adverse impact of
environmental chemicals should be gauged by how people feel and function,
not solely by death or overt damage.”
The physical damage endured by the residents of Bayview Hunter’s Point from the toxic/radioactive exposure has manifested itself into a psychological state ripe for exploitation. This exploitation of the residents of Bayview Hunter’s Point continues as is apparent in the current conversion of the United States Navy Hunter’s Point Shipyard to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. According to the Lennar website, the City and County of San Francisco's sole source for development of BVHP, the transfer of federal property should go smooth if everything goes within plans:
On
November 19, 2002, the U.S. Navy and the San Francisco Redevelopment
Agency reached an agreement to convey Parcels A and B of the Hunters Point
Shipyard to the City of San Francisco. The transfer agreement calls for
the Navy to spend $120 million to clean up the site. Furthermore, the City
will only accept conveyance following certification that the land is clean
and safe for development by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
California Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California Regional
Water Quality Control Board, and county and city agencies. Once
the City accepts conveyance of the Shipyard parcels, it will convey the
parcels to Lennar/BVHP to commence development. Lennar/BVHP will invest
another $40 million to prepare sites within Parcels A and B for home and
commercial construction. Conveyance of Parcel A is expected in the spring
of 2004. The initial development of Phase I will begin following the
conveyance of the Hilltop, Hillside and entry area portions of Parcel A
from the City to Lennar/BVHP. Parcel B should be ready for conveyance in
2005 (Lennar).
Conversely, Maurice Campbell of the Community First Coalition believes that:
Redevelopment
Planning Land Grab In Hunters Point, a Gentrification Plan
We have just
learned that Redevelopment is making a move to grab the whole
neighborhood!!
We were tracking special interest efforts to ram
through the DDA (Disposition and Development Agreement) for Lennar to
develop the Ship Yard, when we also discovered Redevelopment’s plot to
gentrify practically all of BVHP. It appears as an Amendment to the
current Hunters Point Redevelopment Project, so they can avoid a public
process that would reveal the full dimensions of this total land grab
(putting it out in local newspapers for comment).
This takes away the
whole Hill and other huge chunks of the neighborhood, and once they’re
gone, you won’t have an opportunity to get them back.
As Campbell makes clear, the current situation is
ripe for exploitation of Bayview Hunter’s Point. It is just a matter of who will be
the one to take advantage of the situation: the City and County of San
Francisco or the residents of Bayview Hunter’s Point?
A Hunter’s Point environmental racism truth counsel should be set up for atonement for the injustices of the past and present conditions in BVHP just like the African National Congress set up in South Africa. As responsible citizens of California we should start with the acknowledgement of the original indigenous inhabitants of the Bayview Hunter’s Point area. There should be atonement for the near extinction of the indigenous tribes on the San Francisco peninsula. There should be atonement for the drug trade and the perpetuation of the fatherless family in the area. Moreover, the Federal Government should atone for the sixty-year radiation exposure the residents of Bayview Hunter’s Point have endured for the sake of national security and global democracy. To these ends, residents and all concerned San Franciscans must hold Elected Officials, Residents, and Businesses in the area accountable so that ultimately Environmental Justice can prevail in Bayview Hunter's Point.
To obtain copies of the The Black Studies Journal contact Dr. Dorothy Randall Tsuruta: dtsuruta@sfsu.edu . Ask for Spring 2004, Volume 5, "The Silent Violence of Environmental Racism in Bayview Hunter's Point" by Dennis English pages 90-96. The Black Studies Journal is sponsored by the Department of Black Studies, College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University. This issue was dedicated to "Ending the Violence."
The Black Studies Journal was printed in Santa Clara, CA by Enlighten Noah Publishing. Copyright 2004.
Works Cited
Campbell, Maurice,
Barbara George. "Redevelopment
Planning Land Grab In
Gordon, Rachel. "Newsom ups ante in solving killings." San Francisco Chronicle 11 March 2004, Online Edition. 14 Mar 2004 http://www.sfgate.com/
Lennar / BVHP. "Navy Cleanup and Conveyance of
Shipyard." Hunter's Point Search.
Hunter'sPoint Shipyard. 14 March 2004
http://www.hunterspointshipyard.com/conveyance.html
Mc Carthy. "1. Chemical Sensitivity: A Psychological Perspective." Defining Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Ed. Bonnye Matthews, North Carolina: Mc Farland, 1998: 5-8.
Wald, Neil, et al. "ASTDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Ionization Radiation." Environmental Medicine: Integrating a Missing Element into Medical Education. Washington D.C.: Institute of Medicine, 1995: 639-73
Willams,
Lance, Mark Fainaru-Wada.
"Cleanup Wizard in a Messy Scandal DPW Aid has faced String of
Complaints." San Francisco
Chronicle 16 February 2004, Online Edition. 14 March 2004
http://www.sfgate.com
University of California San Francisco. "Community Profile: Bayview/Hunters's Point." 1999 Internet Search. 15 March 2004 http://www.ucsf.edu/hut/volunteers/bayview.html
Environmental Justice Links:
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Organizations:
Abalone Alliance Safe Energy
Clearinghouse (San
Francisco)
Arc
Ecology (San
Francisco)
Asian
Immigrant Women Advocates, South Bay (San Jose)
Borneo Project, The (Berkeley)
California Center for Land
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Californians
for Pesticide Reform (San
Francisco)
Center for
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Center for Health, Environment
and Justice
Communities
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CorpWatch (San Francisco)
DataCenter (Oakland)
Downwinders
EcoNet
Environmental Justice Coalition
for Water (San
Jose)
Environmental
Justice Resource Center
Environmental Research
Foundation
Faultline (San Francisco)
Global Options (San Francisco)
Greenaction (San Francisco)
Impact Fund, The (Berkeley)
Labor / Community Strategy
Center
Literacy for
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Francisco)
Midway
Residents for Environmental Justice (Daly City)
Minkler, Doug (Berkeley)
National Religious Partnership
for the Environment
Pacific Institute for Studies in
Development, Environment, and Security (Oakland)
People Organized to Demand
Environmental and Economic Rights (San Francisco)
People United for a Better
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Pesticide Action Network North
America (San
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Political
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project
underground (Berkeley)
Rachel's Environment & Health
Weekly
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Alliance for Environmental Justice (San Francisco)
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Video
Activist Network, The (San
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Western
States Legal Foundation (Oakland)
Whispered Media (San Francisco)
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Last updated January 9, 2005