Connecticut College Digital Commons @ Connecticut College History Honors Papers History Department 2011 Recognizing Environmental Justice in History: Resistance and Agency in the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike Sarah Berkley Connecticut College,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/histhp Part of the Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Berkley, Sarah, "Recognizing Environmental Justice in History: Resistance and Agency in the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike" (2011). History Honors Papers. 7. http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/histhp/7 This Honors Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the History Department at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Honors Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author. Recognizing Environmental Justice in History: Resistance and Agency in the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike An Honors Thesis presented by Sarah Berkley to The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Major Field and for completion of the certificate program of The Goodwin Niering Center for the Environment Connecticut College New London, Connecticut May 5, 2011 2 Abstract The term environmental justice did not become a part of academic discourse until the 1970s; however, the facts of environmental injustice predate the concept. Minority and low-income communities have historically born a disproportionate burden of the environmental harm associated with economic progress while reaping few of the benefits.