Overview

Over the past two decades, environmental racism has become the rallying cry for whole communities - African American, urban, and poor - as they discover that they are contaminated by toxic chemicals and industrial waste. Living next door to factories and industrial sites for years, the people in these communities often have record health problems and debilitating medical conditions. Melissa Checker tells the story of one such neighborhood, Hyde Park, in Augusta, Georgia, and the tenacious activism of its two hundred African American families. This community, at one time surrounded by nine polluting industries including three factories and two junkyards, is struggling to make their voices heard and their community safe again. For the past twelve years, the residents have been battling for compensation from the industries, which they say have ruined their homes and health. These residents, many of them veterans of the civil rights movement, now have a new battle: environmental justice. In Polluted Promises, Checker argues that Hyde Park stands for many other African American and other poor and minority communities, especially but not exclusively in the South. Hyde Park shows that even in the post-civil rights era, race and class are still key factors in determining the politics of pollution.

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9780814716588

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Reviews

Melissa Checker's absorbing story is a portrait of America. Polluted Promises showcases the complex links between toxic waste and race, and the hope-filled journeys of environmental activists who are wise, strong, and spiritual in their fight against toxic waste-and for their lives. Checker is doing public anthropology for social justice. -Carol Stack,author of All Our Kin I hope that (this book) doesn't get pidgeonholed as a dry, academic treatise, because it is anything but that. It is a wonderfully written account of the struggles by the residents of Hyde Park, a neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia, to undo decades of...environmental racism. -In Brief In this highly readable account ... Checker has written a fine book. Assigned to students interested in urbanism, science and technology studies, race relations in the United States, environment, or social movements, the book is sure to spark thoughtful conversation. -American Anthropologist Polluted Promises is a substantial accomplishment. It grounds the notion of environmental justice wonderfully in practical terms, in the theoretically sophisticated and empathetic examination of Hyde Park. -Adolph Reed, Jr.,author of Class Notes: Posing As Politics and Other Thoughts on the American Scene A very rich, organized, and theoretically interesting ethnographic case study of environmental activism. Checker beautifully recounts how the issues of race emerged and were manipulated in social organizing against environmental poisoning. -George E. Marcus,author of Ethnography through Thick and Thin

A very rich, organized, and theoretically interesting ethnographic case study of environmental activism. Checker beautifully recounts how the issues of race emerged and were manipulated in social organizing against environmental poisoning, the precedent of civil rights organizing, and the changing nature of social movements. - George E. Marcus, author of Ethnography through Thick and Thin

In this highly readable account ... Checker has written a fine book. Assigned to students interested in urbanism, science and technology studies, race relations in the United States, environment, or social movements, the book is sure to spark thoughtful conversation. --American Anthropologist Melissa Checker's absorbing story is a portrait of America. Polluted Promises showcases the complex links between toxic waste and race, and the hope-filled journeys of environmental activists who are wise, strong, and spiritual in their fight against toxic waste--and for their lives. Checker is doing public anthropology for social justice. --Carol Stack, author of All Our Kin I hope that (this book) doesn't get pidgeonholed as a dry, academic treatise, because it is anything but that. It is a wonderfully written account of the struggles by the residents of Hyde Park, a neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia, to undo decades of...environmental racism. --In Brief A very rich, organized, and theoretically interesting ethnographic case study of environmental activism. Checker beautifully recounts how the issues of race emerged and were manipulated in social organizing against environmental poisoning. --George E. Marcus, author of Ethnography through Thick and Thin Polluted Promises is a substantial accomplishment. It grounds the notion of environmental justice wonderfully in practical terms, in the theoretically sophisticated and empathetic examination of Hyde Park. --Adolph Reed, Jr., author of Class Notes: Posing As Politics and Other Thoughts on the American Scene A sweeping and brilliant account of a struggle for environmental justice. With clarity and honesty, Checker adroitly exploits the interconnection of race, environment, and civil rights. This is an authoritative and courageous book that should be essential reading for everyone interested in environmental justice. --Bunyan Bryant, editor of Environmental Justice: Issues, Policies, and Solutions

Author Information

Melissa Checker is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Memphis. She is the co-editor of Local Actions: Cultural Activism, Power and Public Life.

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