Along the Missippi River there is a poor, primarily Black community called St. James Parish. Due to the more than a dozen polluting facilites that have been allowed to built in the area, massive amounts of toxic and carcinogenic pollution has occured. St. James Parish came to be known as "Cancer Alley" due to the fact that the area is know to have a 700 times risk of developing cancer compared to the national average. Recently in 2020, a new petrochemical plant in "Cancer Alley" has been built less than two miles away from a local elementary school. (Tennesean.com)
Located in Michigan is the city of Flint, in which the majority is African American and 45% of residents live below the poverty line. In 2014, the city switched its' water supply to the Flint-River to save cost as opposed to using the Detriot water system. However, this water system contained high concentrations of the toxic element, lead. Despite protesting for years, the city refused to switch the water system, forcing residents to move. Even though more than half of residents left, leaving 17% of homes abandoned, members still reported cases of lead poisoning. (NRDC.org)
Additionally, Detroit, Michigan is home to one of the most highly polluted zip code, 48217. In this zipcode, over 80% of residents are black. This pollutuion is due to the massive oil refinery located in the city creating a "toxic stew of chemicals" that loom the city. (MetroTime.com)
In Chicago, researchers discovered that non-Hispanic white residents experience 17% less air pollution exposure. On the other hand, Black residents are exposed to 56% more pollution and Hispanic residents at 63% (Vice.com)