Purpose

The workshop fostered dialogue among NIEHS employees, outside researchers, and members of the community to examine racism as a public health issue. The workshop seeks to:

• Raise awareness of the problem of systemic racism in America and its contributing role to Environmental Health Disparities (EHD).
• Inform the NIEHS community of current EHD research and outreach activities in Environmental Justice (EJ).
• Engage regional and local community leaders involved in EJ advocacy networks to discuss best practices for community engagement.

Background

The social unrest and protests that erupted in 2020, helped spur the need for the American people to have serious discussions about race and the systems that have contributed to growing health disparities and disproportionate environmental exposures. In one of his first acts after being inaugurated on January 20, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. This directive encourages a comprehensive approach for promoting equity for all, especially people of color.

This workshop focused on the systemic problem of racism in America and its contributing role to EHD. It included keynote presentations and interactive panel discussions that feature national and local EJ leaders.

Workshop Materials

Videos from Meeting

1. Session One – Environmental Health Disparities: Impact of Environmental Injustices and Systemic Racism (Past, Present, Future)
2. Confronting Environmental Racism: Why Health Equity Matters
3. Tribute to Cecil Corbin-Mark, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
4. Session Two – A Conversation With Our Community Leaders: EJ, Science, and Policy (Community Voices From North Carolina) (Panel Discussion)
5. Addressing Environmental Racism As a Public Health Issue Through Health Disparities and Environmental Justice: A History of Environmental Racism in North Carolina
6. West End Revitalization Association
7. “KNOW YOUR EJ” – Two Poll Questions
8. Anti-racist Community Based Participatory Research and Practice for Environmental Justice
9. Session Three (Continued): Community-engaged Research – Building Authentic Partnerships in Disproportionately Impacted Communities
10. Community-engaged Research and Collaborations to Achieve Environmental Health and Justice With Arctic Indigenous Communities
11. Session Four – Collaborative Solutions for Eliminating Environmental Health Disparities (Panel Discussion)

NIEHS Resources

Programs & Initiatives

• Environmental Health Disparities and Environmental Justice
• Worker Training Program: Training for Workers in Hazardous Environments
• Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)
• Community-engaged Research and Citizen Science
• West End Revitalization Association: Demonstrating the Value of Community-led Research to Address Environmental Justice Issues

Environmental Factor Newsletter Articles

• Environmental Health Disparities Key Topic at International Conference
• Environmental Justice Champion Speaks on Challenges, Opportunities
• Environmental Justice Through Community-engaged Research
• Environmental Health Disparities, Racism Studies Collected at EHP
• Olden Distinguished Lecture Highlights Economic Inequality and Health
• Trainees at NIEHS Take on Equity and Justice
• Racial Health Inequities Addressed With NIEHS Research Funding
• The NIEHS Conversation on Race, Equity, and Inclusion
• Black History Month Speaker Takes on Health Care Disparities
• Diversity Speaker Series Addresses Native American Health Challenges

Environmental Health Perspectives – Environmental Racism Collection: Exposure and Health Inequities in Black Americans

Federal Resources

• The White House – Justice40 Initiative
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Environmental Justice
• Government Accountability Office (GAO) – Environmental Justice: Federal Efforts Need Better Planning, Coordination, and Methods to Assess Progress

Webinars & Podcasts

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – The Many Faces of Environmental (In)Justice: Scholarship Addressing Racism, Infrastructure and Climate Action
• National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (nonprofit) – Stopping the Other Pandemic: Systemic Racism and Health
• Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) – Intersectionality and Environmental Justice
• University of Michigan School of Public Health – The Inequitable Impact of the Environment on Health
• Boston University School of Public Health – Epidemiology and Race: Why and How We Study Racial Health Disparities
• Broken Ground – Women Fighting for Environmental Justice
• John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University – Book Talk with Catherine Coleman Flowers — "Waste": One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret
• EPA – Environmental Justice & Systemic Racism Speaker Series

Community Engagement Training Modules

• University of California-Davis and University of Michigan – Building Equitable Partnerships for Environmental Justice
• University of Kentucky – Community Engaged Research: Initiating a Successful Community/Academic Partnership

Other Resources

• Duke Human Rights Center – "A Spotlight on Environmental Justice": An Interview With Catherine Coleman Flowers, After Being Named a 2020 Macarthur Fellow
• EPA – Study Finds Exposure to Air Pollution Higher for People of Color Regardless of Region or Income
• Collaboration between University of Richmond, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ("Virginia Tech"), University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University – Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America

More Information

If you have questions about the workshop, please contact one of the following committee members:

Darlene Dixon, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.A.C.V.P.
Acting Chief, Mechanistic Toxicology Branch

Tel 984-287-3848
[email protected]

Sharon D. Beard, M.S.
Branch Chief;
Worker Education and Training Branch

Tel 984-287-3237
Fax 301-451-5595
[email protected]