Need a reason to celebrate Earth Day? Here's one. According to the Center for American Progress, more than 71 percent of African Americans and 66 percent of Latinos live in areas that fail to meet one or more of the Environmental Protection Agency's air-quality standards.
The EPA says that our minority communities are susceptible to more environmental challenges because we tend to live closer together and are more likely to live near toxic wastelands and sewers. Additionally, because of the high incidence of air pollution in our communities, we also suffer from higher rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases.
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This article has actually hit home for me. I grew up in a neighborhood that was surrounded by some type of chemical plants yet everyone around the area would go fishing in the area and feed their families. They were not aware that the chemical plants was probably dumping chemicals into these areas. There was also gardens planted and vegetables and fruit trees where probably affected by some of these chemicals. Thinking back, most of the older people have already died from some sort of cancer including both my parents. We moved out of the area after we were adults and brought our parents with us but their bodies were already affected by some type of cancer. All we can do now is keep check on ourselves.
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