The Incinerator
In 1991, the residents of Riverdale notified the members of the South Bronx community, as Rogers remembered, and told them they were opening a waste incinerator in the area. It was so shocking because the technology was so outdated, nobody was building them anymore, Rogers explained. The company in charge of building the incinerator claimed that it was, “State of the art” Rogers said sarcastically.
Rogers used the term Environmental racism a few times. It seemed that he meant and what the standard definition means was that the city was taking advantage of the minority community’s lack of resources. In a lecture given by professor Harvey Molotch in the fall of 2016, he discussed the ways in which marginalized communities, usually communities of color, bare the burden of public health problems because they don't have the resources to oppose it. Or in other words, wealthier communities take the stance of "Not in my backyard" with examples such as waste incinerators, and because they pay more taxes the city appeases to them more than it cares about communities such as the South Bronx. This idea is what seems to be what Rogers is referring to when he says environmental Racism.
The irony was that the hospital held the permit for the incinerator. An institution that worked to make people healthier, was making people sicker. It was like clockwork, they used the same tactics: demonstrations, rally’s lawsuits, they got environmental reports and showed that asthma rates were higher in the South Bronx than anywhere else in the city. The community gathered a group of children, put medical masks on them and rallied in front of the Bronx. After unrelenting action, the community one the fight to have the incinerator closed. Rogers stressed the importance of the future generation constantly, he explained the children growing up in the South Bronx wouldn’t just learn the history they were part of the history.