National studies already show enough racial disparity in toxic siting to demand causal investigation

Evidence

As with most statistical research, studies that chart the disproportionate distribution of waste facilities simply establish correlations, not causation. Some commentators therefore question whether the maldistribution of environmental hazards is appropriately attributed to racism or other injustice or to a more benign explanation. Among the alternative explanations offered to explain the racial disparities are (1) that the social status or lifestyle choices of certain racial and ethnic groups result in maldistribution and (2) that maldistribution is a result of the operation of the “free market.” … By accepting the existing social structure and practices as the “baseline” for causal analysis, these explanations tend to obscure the injustice of current distributions and dangerously suggest that the inequitable outcomes are a natural and inevitable feature of social and economic life. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 308 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

To understand fully the phenomenon of environmental racism, one must understand the structural processes that underlie the well-documented distributive outcomes. In this sense, unequal distribution is not the sine qua non of environmental racism. Instead, it is a crucial entry point for exploring the social and institutional processes underlying distributional patterns. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 292 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The market-dynamics explanation lacks conclusive empirical support yet is repeatedly invoked to deny racism; Correlational studies cannot by themselves establish that environmental racism siting is causal — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 308; Toxic waste siting disparities trace to different eras for Black versus Latino neighborhoods — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 303 (+3 more)

Related

• Distributional studies alone cannot explain the processes producing environmental racism. (similarity 0.92)
• Correlational studies cannot by themselves establish that environmental racism siting is causal (similarity 0.92)
• Toxic waste siting disparities trace to different eras for Black versus Latino neighborhoods (similarity 0.86)
• Market-dynamics explanations for siting disparities lack conclusive empirical support (similarity 0.85)
• Contradictory siting studies differed mainly over geographic unit and comparison scope (similarity 0.85)
• Empirical distributional studies only scratch the surface of environmental racism’s causes (similarity 0.84)
• Changing the geographic unit of analysis can make racial siting disparities statistically vanish (similarity 0.84)
• Demographic change over time does not exonerate facility siting from racism (similarity 0.84)
• Post-siting market dynamics cannot explain current disproportionate siting patterns (similarity 0.82)
• Toxic waste siting itself drives post-siting white flight and resegregation (similarity 0.80)
• Environmental racism is a symptom of broader ongoing racial discrimination (similarity 0.79)
• The single-bad-actor search obscures structural causes of environmental racism (similarity 0.79)
• Race is the strongest predictor of hazardous waste facility siting in the US (similarity 0.79)
• Analyzing environmental racism requires structural, procedural, and normative frames jointly (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Correlational studies cannot by themselves establish that environmental racism siting is causal #qualifies (0.92) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 308
• Empirical distributional studies only scratch the surface of environmental racism’s causes #qualifies (0.90) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 292
• A state-funded report formally advised siting toxic facilities in poor, rural, minority communities #exemplifies (0.85) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 61
• Changing the geographic unit of analysis can make racial siting disparities statistically vanish #contradicts (0.85)
• Toxic waste siting disparities trace to different eras for Black versus Latino neighborhoods #expands (0.75) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 303