environmental racism

noun

The disproportionate impact of environmental hazards, pollution, and ecological degradation on marginalized and low-income communities and especially on people of color, which occurs for example when those communities are disproportionately settled in environmentally hazardous or degraded environments (with toxic waste, urban decay, etc), or when environmentally hazardous undertakings such as landfills or polluting factories are disproportionately placed near marginalized communities.

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Meanings

nounenvironmental racism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe disproportionate impact of environmental hazards, pollution, and ecological degradation on marginalized and low-income communities and especially on people of color, which occurs for example when those communities are disproportionately settled in environmentally hazardous or degraded environments (with toxic waste, urban decay, etc), or when environmentally hazardous undertakings such as landfills or polluting factories are disproportionately placed near marginalized communities.
Cite this entry
APA

environmental racism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/environmental%20racism

MLA

“environmental racism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/environmental%20racism. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “environmental racism,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/environmental%20racism.

Source: environmental racism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.