The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities

by RobertD.Bullard (Author), Beverly Wright (Author)

New
Hardcover
2012
$87.55

When the images of desperate, hungry, thirsty, sick, mostlyblack people circulated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it becameapparent to the whole country that race did indeed matter when it came to governmentassistance. In The Wrong Complexion forProtection, Robert D. Bullard and Beverly Wright place the governmentresponse to natural and human-induced disasters in historical context over thepast eight decades. They compare and contrast how the government responded toemergencies, including environmental and public health emergencies, toxiccontamination, industrial accidents, bioterrorism threats and show that AfricanAmericans are disproportionately affected. Bullard and Wright argue that uncoveringand eliminating disparate disaster response can mean the difference betweenlife and death for those most vulnerable in disastrous times.

Synopsis

When the images of desperate, hungry, thirsty, sick, mostlyblack people circulated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it becameapparent to the whole country that race did indeed matter when it came to governmentassistance. In The Wrong Complexion forProtection, Robert D. Bullard and Beverly Wright place the governmentresponse to natural and human-induced disasters in historical context over thepast eight decades. They compare and contrast how the government responded toemergencies, including environmental and public health emergencies, toxiccontamination, industrial accidents, bioterrorism threats and show that AfricanAmericans are disproportionately affected. Bullard and Wright argue that uncoveringand eliminating disparate disaster response can mean the difference betweenlife and death for those most vulnerable in disastrous times.

$87.55

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Publisher: NYU Press
Published: 13 Aug 2012
ISBN 10: 0814799930
ISBN 13: 9780814799932
Book Overview: A provocative argument revealing the inherent racism in governmental responses

Media Reviews

A fascinating insiders' account from thefrontlines of the struggle to get the government to act fairly in the face ofenvironmental injustice, with vast implications for future disasters. -Timmons Roberts,co-author of A Climate of Injustice
A fine overview for those interested in the subject matter. Summing Up: Highly recommended. -Choice
The Wrong Complexion for Protection is an intellectual version of a 'greatest hits' album, combining autobiography and research findings to give a picture of the authors' important contributions to the field of environmental justice, and a picture of what environmental justice has contributed to political science and other fields. -Patrick S. Roberts,Political Science Quarterly
The brutal realities of institutional racism indisaster readiness, response, and recovery are unveiled here in black andwhite, through compelling case studies, jaw-dropping statistics, and thoroughlydocumented sociological and historical data. -David Naguib Pellow,co-author of The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America's Eden

Author Bio

Robert D. Bullard is Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University in Houston and author of 17 books, including Environmental Health and Racial Equity in the United States. Beverly Wright is the founding director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) at Dillard University, New Orleans and co-chair of the Environmental Justice Climate Change (EJCC) Initiative and author of Race, Place and Environmental Justice after Hurricane Katrina.