New book explores connection between racial equity, environmental health

Environmental Health and Racial Equity: Building Environmentally Just, Sustainable, and Livable Communities
Authors: Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D.; Glenn S. Johnson, Ph.D.; Angel O. Torres, M.C.P.

Contact:
Patricia Warin
patricia.wari [at] apha.org – (202)777-2511

Rebecca Noricks
rebecca.norick [at] wkkf.org – (269)969-2171

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  People of color and those with lower income and wealth have long borne an unequal burden of environmental health threats in the United States compared to the general population, according to a new just-released book. Environmental Health and Racial Equity: Building Environmentally Just, Sustainable, and Livable Communities,  published by APHA Press and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, examines the relationship between a community’s physical environment and health burdens.

“The poorest of the poor within the United States have the worst health and live in the most degraded environments,” said lead author and APHA member Robert D. Bullard, PhD, who authored the book with Glenn S. Johnson, PhD, and Angel O. Torres, MCP. “One of the most important indicators of an individual’s health is one’s street address or neighborhood. Residents who live on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ are subjected to elevated environmental health threats.”

The book captures the current state of the environmental justice movement and its work around health and racial equity over the past 25 years. While mounting grassroots mobilization efforts over the past three decades has resulted in protective new laws and regulations, minority neighborhoods continue to serve as “dumping grounds” for polluting facilities, according to the book.

“The book is a great contribution to the field of public health, as it clearly demonstrates how important environmental equity is to our health and wellbeing. APHA is proud to be a co-publisher with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation of this important work of literature that helps create the dialogue around this relevant topic,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of APHA.

“The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is pleased to support and co-publish this important book, written by the true father of the environmental justice movement, Robert Bullard, and his colleagues,” said Gail Christopher, DN, vice president of program strategy at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “It is our hope that the movement’s ‘story’ and the reminder of the injustices communities continue to face will help ignite an even more robust effort nationwide to improve environmental conditions and health for all.”

Ordering Information: Published by APHA Press, Environmental Health and Racial Equity in the United States: Building Environmentally Just, Sustainable, and Livable Communities, 978-087553-0079, 450 pages, softcover, $70.00 ($49.00 APHA member price) plus shipping and handling. To order, call toll free 888-320-APHA; fax 888-361-APHA; e-mail apha@pbd.com or visit www.aphabookstore.org.

Please send requests for a review copy on letterhead to David Hartogs, APHA, 800 I Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001-3710; e-mail david.hartogs@apha.org; or fax to 202-777-2531.

For more about APHA, visit www.apha.org.