Anti-Asian violence and climate justice

Hiroko Tabuchi, one of our Climate reporters, wrote in our Climate Forward newsletter about the intersection between climate justice and Anti-Asian discrimination, which we are sharing with you here.

A wave of violence against Asians and Asian-Americans in recent weeks has cast a light on a segment of the American population that has frequently been absent from conversations on racial injustice — and on climate and the environment.

That means vulnerable communities may not be getting the attention they need to address longstanding environmental concerns.

Asian-Americans tend to live in neighborhoods that suffer disproportionately from air pollution, and are likely to be exposed to more carcinogens. (I wrote last year about a Laotian community in Richmond, Calif., that has long dealt with the dangers of living in the shadow of a giant oil refinery and was grappling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.)

Native Pacific Islanders, too, have suffered from pesticide exposure and health hazards from waste sites located in their communities, and also are on the forefront of dealing with the effects of climate change. (We recently spoke to Haunani Kane, a Native Hawaiian woman who is leading a climate vulnerability assessment on the effects of sea level rise on the Pacific islands.)

In an incident this week, a 65-year-old Filipino woman in New York City was viciously attacked in New York. It’s difficult to focus on issues like climate change when you feel immediate hatred around you.
The New York Times