Environmental Justice and Policy: Understanding Racism and Capitalism through Flint

Environmental crises are rarely accidental; they are often the result of systemic policy decisions, urban planning failures, and deep-seated economic structures. Understanding these intersections is crucial for anyone looking to advocate for equitable communities and sustainable public policies. By studying historical and contemporary cases, you will learn to identify the root causes of systemic environmental neglect and understand how law and policy can be leveraged for reform. This text-based course equips you with the foundational knowledge to analyze environmental policies through the lenses of environmental racism and racial capitalism. Using the Flint water crisis as a core case study alongside modern regulatory developments, you will build a critical framework to evaluate environmental harms, assess public health policies, and advocate for systemic change. What you'll learn: - Define foundational concepts of environmental racism, racial capitalism, and distributive justice. - Analyze the specific policy decisions, regulatory oversights, and urban planning failures that led to the Flint water crisis. - Evaluate how civil rights laws and environmental regulations intersect to protect or fail marginalized communities. - Understand modern environmental justice frameworks, cumulative impact assessment policies, and recent equity-focused federal initiatives. - Identify community-led advocacy strategies and systemic policy solutions to combat environmental disparities. The course begins with key terminology, basic concepts, and foundational definitions of systemic racism and capitalism in urban environments. You will then progress through an in-depth policy analysis of historical crises before exploring modern legal frameworks and active advocacy strategies used today. This course is designed for beginners, community advocates, students, and aspiring policymakers with no prior background in law, urban planning, or environmental science. Start reading today to deepen your understanding of environmental policy and social equity.