Meanings
- uncountableurban studiesThe practice of zoning dangerous or hazardous facilities, such as incinerators, landfills, and dumps, in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
1 more example
In cities like Houston, for example, all-white zoning boards targeted Black neighborhoods for the siting of noxious facilities, like landfills, incinerators and garbage dumps. Robert Bullard, a professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University, has called the practice “PIBBY” or “Place In Blacks’ Back Yard” — a spin on the acronym “NIMBY” (“Not In My Back Yard”).
2021 November 2, Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, Al Shaw and Lisa Song, “Poison in the Air”, in ProPublica, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2023
Origin
Acronym of place in Blacks' back yard, modeled after NIMBY. Coined by Robert Bullard.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
PIBBY. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PIBBY
“PIBBY.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PIBBY. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “PIBBY,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PIBBY.
Source: PIBBY on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.