Boston ranks 8th-worst in the country for asthma rates, and Black Bostonians are hospitalized for asthma four times as often as whites. Five years ago, ACE won an important policy victory, when Mayor Walsh agreed to the Diesel Reduction Ordinance. The campaign, led by youth from REEP (Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Program), used the slogan “we can’t breathe” to highlight the young Black folks in Roxbury and beyond who are suffering every day from asthma and dirty air. We won. Mayor Walsh ordered a fast transition away from dirty diesel vehicles -- both for the city and for its contractors. He also ordered stepped-up enforcement of idling vehicles. But it doesn’t look like the Walsh administration is following through. They haven’t held hearings they promised, nor reported on progress. We’ve resorted to a public records request, which has so far gone unanswered. If our leaders took environmental racism seriously, we wouldn’t be in this position. We expect better -- we demand better. Add your name to our petition.
Of course, asthma isn’t the whole picture -- Black and Brown folks suffer from diabetes, heart disease and cancer at disproportionate levels. Environmental racism is just a piece of the puzzle. But asking for environmental justice is a key part of how we get the world we need. And I firmly believe it’s how we build the movement to win.
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