The Georgia town that was home to Ahmaud Arbery has an environmental racism problem
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by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza In the wake of the Feb. 23 killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery by white vigilantes on the outskirts of Brunswick, Georgia, the idyllic veil is being lifted off the state’s so-called “Golden Isles” that include St. SiThe Georgia town that was home to Ahmaud Arbery has an environmental racism problem
by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza In the wake of the Feb. 23 killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery by white vigilantes on the outskirts of Brunswick, Georgia, the idyllic veil is being lifted off the state’s so-called “Golden Isles” that include St. Simons Island and Brunswick, revealing a history of systemic oppression and systematic racism. Once a haven for descendants of Africans who were enslaved there, St. Simons is now 96% white and 2% Black, with a median household income one and a half times higher than the state average. Meanwhile, Brunswick, where some of St. Simons’ displaced Black community has settled, is 38% white, 57% Black, and more than one-third of its residents live in poverty. Brunswick is one of many majority-Black communities in the U.S. dealing with environmental racism, which Dr. Robert Bullard, the “father of environmental justice,” defines as “any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color.” Read more