The passage begins with a claim that environmental racism existed before it was defined, and then provides a claim that “before the 1970s” (Wikipedia, 2018), there were several communities of color that were aware of environmental racism and organized to fight it. The first example provided is the Black Panther Party, with a reference link provided. However, the reference link opens to a 1973 document, which counters the claim that organization against environmental racism existed before the 1970s. A second example identifies The Young Lords, a nationalist group that similarly protested against pollution in their community. These are the only two examples provided. The passage then goes on with the description, “these and other organizations” (Wikipedia, 2018) have been examples of activism without identifying what these other organizations might be.
The evidence provided is limited to only these two examples, and the claim that there were examples of activism before the 1970s is not supported by these examples, both of which operated during the 1970s, and not before. There are also unsubstantiated claims into other organizations working similarly against environmental racism. Similarly, there is a lack of evidence supporting that these efforts were motivated by racial issues, as opposed to organizing simply against environmental issues. The passage concludes that the examples provided “serve as precursors to more pointed movements against environmental racism” (Wikipedia, 2018), without identifying how or why these movements influenced current awareness or movements on the issue. This should be clarified, and there should be more robust examples of organizations being aware of environmental racism before the terminology was coined, as the prevailing thesis of the passage is that groups were aware of environmental racism before this terminology began being used. The central claim that organization existed before 1970 is fully unsupported by the examples being provided, so examples supporting this claim would need to be included.
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"Wikipedia Analysis: Environmental Racism (Early Activism)".
