Environmental_Inequalities

Environmental Inequalities Andrew Hurley, in “Environmental Inequalities,” seems to be answering the same question throughout his telling of class, race, and industrial pollution in Gary, Indiana. From 1945- 1980 there were three distinct groups in Gary. There were the middle-class made up of white doctors, lawyers and management, the working class composed of semiskilled workers earning a moderate pay, and African Americans generally working the jobs that white workers did not want. Wage earnings gradually declined from the middle-class down to African American workers. Throughout this reading Hurley continually answers the question of how industrialization in Gary shaped human activity through pay and pollution, and in turn how humans shaped their environment. Starting with the middle-class citizens of Gary, Indiana, Hurley tells how they are identified by fresh air, beautiful landscapes and space. Hurley says, “Through the 1970’s, the preservation of suburban amenities would remain the driving force behind middle-class opposition to industrial pollution” (Hurley, 47). The relatively high income of the middle-class, although it varied greatly depending on occupation, allowed for families to move into suburban areas. With the combination of greater pay and efficient transportation, Gary was able to decentralize. This resulted in the primarily white middle-class moving a few middle-class, gary, workers, hurley, working-class, white, african, neighborhoods, environmental, better, pay, make, jobs, class, americans, working, through, often, housing, community, because, workplace, work, throughout, suburban, steps, racism, pollution, move, management, made, indiana, hazards, goals, fought, even