July 12, 2002

Sociologist preaches 'smart growth'
Group says NAACP must be aware of the impact of urban sprawl on blacks

By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

For a civil rights organization steeped in the civil disobedience of Rosa Parks and the legal advocacy of Thurgood Marshall, the scholarly field of urban design might seem an unlikely new battleground.

How cities develop, however, is quite relevant to a resident of a black neighborhood -- such as Houston's Third Ward -- who must take three buses every day to get to his or her job in the suburbs.

As urban sprawl has drained jobs, investment and opportunity out of central cities, blacks and other minorities have suffered disproportionately, argues sociologist Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

Bullard preached the virtues of "smart growth" in a panel discussion on environmental justice Monday at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's national convention.

"I think it's important that the leadership within the NAACP understand the social, economic and environmental impact of sprawl," he said in an interview prior to his presentation.

To Bullard, moving the civil rights struggle from lunch counter sit-ins to local planning commission meetings is perfectly reasonable.

The impact of sprawl on minority neighborhoods, he said, crosses the spectrum of social issues. Black families stuck in decaying inner-city neighborhoods often must send their children to inferior public schools, Bullard said, and they have few transportation and housing options.

As increasing commute times draw more affluent suburban residents back to the urban core, Bullard said, traditional black communities can fall victim to gentrification and displacement.

"As black people," he said, "we have to be very serious about anti-sprawl and smart growth. If we're not at the table, we're going to be displaced."

Another panelist, Monique Harden, a lawyer specializing in environmental justice issues, said environmental decisions affecting black communities are made every day by regulatory agencies and planning boards.

She called on black lawyers, scientists and other professionals to lend their expertise to efforts to prevent such decisions from harming black neighborhoods.

"Our arms are wide open," Harden said. "We need you."

Industry groups that oppose stricter environmental controls, she said, have enlisted the support of black organizations such as the Black Chamber of Commerce through a "very deceptive strategy where our people are being used against us."

Panelist Damu Smith, executive director of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, characterized the struggle for environmental equity as a moral crusade.

"There are sinister forces in the nation who are committed to the proposition that there should not be equal protection for communities of color," Smith said.

When lawsuits are filed to seek compensation for victims of environmental racism, Smith said, the plaintiffs too often are represented by white lawyers who may be more interested in their fee than in the interests of the community.

Discussing the impacts of unjust environmental policies, Smith cited high rates of asthma among inner-city children -- often the result, he said, of industrial emissions.

"I have a 9-year-old daughter with asthma," Smith said. "This is personal for me."