University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-1996 Toxins! Tocsin: The North Hollywood Dump in Memphis, Tennessee: A Community's Struggle Against Environmental Racism Glenn Steve Johnson University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, Glenn Steve, "Toxins! Tocsin: The North Hollywood Dump in Memphis, Tennessee: A Community's Struggle Against Environmental Racism. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1996. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2528 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Glenn Steve Johnson entitled "Toxins! Tocsin: The North Hollywood Dump in Memphis, Tennessee: A Community's Struggle Against Environmental Racism." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Sociology. John Gaventa, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Sherry Cable, Donald Hastings, Faye Harrison Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To The Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Glenn Steve Johnson entitled "Toxins! Tocsin: The North Hollywood Dump in Memphis, Tennessee: A Community's Struggle Against Environmental Racism." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Sociology. John Gaventa, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance Accepted for the Council: Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School TOXINS! TOCSIN : THE NORTH HOLLYWOOD DUMP IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE : A COMMUNITY 'S STRUGGLE AGAINST ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM A DISSERTATION PRESENTED FOR THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE GLENN STEVE JOHNSON AUGUST 1996 Copyright © Glenn Steve Johnson , 1996 All rights reserved DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to : Professor Donald Clelland , Better Known as the "Marxist Jock" Motivator , intellectual activist, radical cultural thinker , and "precious friend" whose insightful wisdom and warm heart will always be missed and to Professor Sherry Cable, Sympathizer , educational giant and global visionary whose wit , encouragement and sisterhood will be cherished forever and to Professor John Gaventa , academic facilitor , grassroots participatory researcher and dedicated grassroots scholar whose glares of scholarly youth will remain a part of my academic endeavor and to Professor Faye Harrison , capable, courageous motivator whose words of wisdom represent an Afrocentric cultural solidarity in my search for uplifting grassroots nation builders and to my impeccable mentors , Dr . Robert Bullard Dr . William E. Bull Dr . Ronald McFadden Dr . Ronald Hopson Dr . Luther Kindall Dr . Wilma Dunnaway Dr . Asafa Jalata Dr . Ruth Queen Smith Dr . Donald Hastings Silas and Jovon Reed iii SPECIAL TRIPLE DEDICATION My mom , You are the "spirit" in my human existence The Memphis Hollywood Community and My Key Informants Thank you for giving me the research data, common folks knowledge and strength to pursue this long awaited project . Without you this proj ect would have died at the starting line , Without you this proj ect would have no meaning , Without you I would still be lost in the "toxic" wilderness , Without you I have nobody 's shoulders to stand on, Without you there is no gain or pain in my intellecutal suffering , Without you I question my mission in life, Without you , Black Sociologists have no grassroots . Doc , the "Guru" A life time humanitarian and religious warrior for academic decency . I dedicate my future scholarship to our spacious postmodern dream within the worldsystem proj ect for human justice. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank his family Doris Johnson , Julia Johnson , Rita Steele and LaSalle Johnson . Their friendship and family devotion cannot be expressed thoroughly in the English language . Without their patience, faith and encouragement , this educational endeavor would not have been possible . Special Thanks go to Drs . Donald Hastings , Donald Clelland , John Gaventa , Faye Harrison and Sherry Cable , who read and corrected this manuscript . Additional thanks go to JoAnn M. Hickson , Ann L. Lacava and Donna Doyle. For my wonderful friends Donald and Carol Merriwether , Janice Harris, Janelle Chapman , Hosea Foster , Dexter Balfour , Eddie and Pam Chevis, Patricia Martin, Alan Martin, entire chemistry storeroom (Darrell and Bobby Lay , Roy Hodge , Susan Hartzog, Claxton Hal lman) , Emmanual and Linda Bai ley , Madeline Ocala , Dr . Jeffrey Stotik , Chris Baker , Darrell and Kenyatta Wesley , Vilma Moreira , Lee and Mary Kay Williams (Hannah and Elija Williams) , Debbie Perkins , Karyn McKinney , Karen Mason , Lisa Smith and others who I may have failed to mention . Their support was highly valued . Finally, I would like to acknowledge the financial support of The Tennessee Higher Education Commission Black Fellowship Organization (Dr. Linda Painter , Associate Dean of Graduate School) and The University of Tennessee Chemistry and Sociology Department . Above all, I Thank God . v ABSTRACT This research describes the "voices " of Hollywood residents who are impacted by a toxic landfill in their backyard . These residents were not included in the decision-making process to get the Hollywood Dump cleaned up . The residents were not allowed to be equal political participants in the Hollywood Dump issue . The residents lacked a strong collective resistance to influence local , state and federal officials to respond to this community problem . The "voices" of the Hollywood residents provided a natural history of a social problem which represents the political, cultural, and rel igious concerns of grassroots individuals who agreed that the local dump was posing an environmental, and public health threat to their community . This research concluded that the Hollywood Dump issue is a classic example of environmental racism which is a form of environmental injustice . vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTIION .............................................1 Chapter ONE. • . • . 3 THEORY AND METHODS . 3 Statement of the Problem •...•.••......•..•....•..... 3 Target Area for this study ..•.•••.....•.......••.•.. 7 Review of Relevant Theoretical Literature .•...•.....10 Environmental Inequal ity •..•.............••..• 10 The Three Dimensions of Power .••..•...•....•.• 12 How Does Organized Resistance Occur? ........•• 19 Toward a Theoretical Shift •......•.....•...•..•.... 22 Weaknesses of Existing Approaches ..•.•.......• 22 Viewing Power from the Bottom Up •..•.......•.. 25 Research Questions . • . • . 28 Power from the Top Down ..•......•..•......•..• 28 Power from the Bottom Up .••...............•..• 29 Environmental Racism •....•.............•..•... 30 Research Methods and Sources •..•.........•.....••.• 30 The Natural History of a Social Problem ....... 30 General Approach . • . 31 Key Informants . • . • . • . • . 3 2 Face-to-face Interviews ..........•.....•...... 34 Published Data Sources ........................ 38 TWO . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • . • • • • 3 9 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS OF THE NORTH HOLLYWOOD DUMP ... 39 13etC:lc��O\lJlci......................................... 39 The Geography of North Memphis ....•.•...•..... 39 Wolf River and North Memphis ..•..........•.... 42 Outmigration of Blacks and Home Ownership •.•.• 43 History of the Hollywood Dump .•..•..••...•.... 44 Community Awareness . • . • . • . • 4 6 Policy Determination . • . • . • 63 Discussion About Cleanup of Dump .•....•..•...• 64 Reform ............................................. 65 Cleanup Methods Chosen for Hollywood Dump ..... 66 Design for Cleanup of Hollywood Dump .......••. 66 Date of Cleanup of Hollywood Dump ...••...••... 67 Safety Plan of the Cleanup Process of Hollywood Dump . 67 Public Participation and the Hollywood Dump ... 68 THR.EE. • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . 7 2 VIEWING THE PROBLEM FROM THE TOP DOWN .............. 72 The Natural History of the Hollywood Dump •....•..•. 72 Background . 7 3 Community Awareness Stage •.......•.•........•. 76 vii Policy Determination Stage ••..••....•.•.••.•.• 78 Reform Stage . 91 The Political Disempowerment of Hollywood Residents ... ............... ................... 92 Agenda Setting ..................................... 93 Exclusion of Hollywood Residents •..•......•... 94 Construction of Dominant Ideology ...•.....••......• 96 NIMBY Ideology Developed and Disseminated •.... 99 Environmental Racism .............................. 102 Institutional Racism •...•........•.....•..•.. 105 Path of Least Resistance •...•.....•....•..•.. 106 Place in Blacks Back Yard