A general definition of environmental racism is that it refers to the disproportionate effects of environmental degradation on BIPOC through hazardous waste, pollution, and climate change. The problem is further expressed in that “huge profits are being made, mostly by white men, through enterprises that are destroying the environment, while people of color pay a large percentage of the costs of these endeavors”. 

It is important to remember that these are not just random occurrences or coincidence, but a component of systemic racism and the discriminatory practices that surround land use and resource distribution. Environmental racism is caused by a few different factors, some of which are intentional neglect of certain communities and the supposition that having a place for disposal of pollutants in urban areas is necessary. This combined with the “lack of institutional power and low land values of people of color” has led to the well-documented occurrence that “communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by polluting industries (and very specifically, hazardous waste facilities) and tax regulation of these industries”.