TOWARD AN INTEGRATED POLITICS OF SOCIAL-JUSTICE AND ENVIRONMENT - AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS IN SEATTLE

During the last decade, communities of color have mobilized To address environmental problems. Their engagement with the environment has giv en impetus to an environmental justice movement that has framed enviro nmental inequities as another instance of social injustice and institu tionalized racism The present study outlines the elements of this envi ronmental justice frame and examines its resonance through a set of in terviews with 26 African American community leaders in Seattle. Interv iewees' perceptions were largely consistent with the frame: Most defin ed environment broadly, believed that people are entitled to clean and healthy environments, and believed that people of color are dispropor tionately exposed to environmental hazards. They differed with regard to the salience of environmental issues and strategies for addressing environmental inequities.