Robert D. Bullard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Bullard
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Robert Doyle Bullard
December 21, 1946 Elba, Alabama, U.S.
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| Education | Alabama A&M University (BA) Clark Atlanta University (MA) Iowa State University (PhD) |
| Spouse(s) | Linda McKeever |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Sociology |
| Institutions | Texas Southern University Clark Atlanta University University of California, Riverside |
| Thesis | Voluntary Participation: Implications for Social Change and Conflict in a Community Decision Organization (1976) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Richards |
Robert Doyle Bullard (born December 21, 1946) is an American professor. He is known as the "father of environmental justice". This means he has been a major leader in fighting against environmental racism. Environmental racism is when harmful things like pollution or waste dumps are placed more often in communities where people of color live. Dr. Bullard has also done a lot of research on this problem and on the Environmental Justice Movement, which started in the United States in the 1980s. He is currently a professor at Texas Southern University.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Robert Bullard was born in Elba, Alabama, on December 21, 1946. He was the fourth of five children. He finished high school in Elba in 1964. He was the second-highest-ranking student in his graduating class.
After high school, Bullard went to Alabama A&M University in Huntsville. He earned a bachelor's degree in government in 1968. After college, he served for two years in the United States Marine Corps.
He continued his studies and earned a master's degree in sociology from Clark Atlanta University in 1972. Later, in 1976, he received his Ph.D. (a very high-level degree) in sociology from Iowa State University.
Fighting for Environmental Justice
The First Lawsuit: Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management
In 1979, a very important event happened that shaped Dr. Bullard's work. His wife, Linda McKeever Bullard, was a lawyer. She represented people in Houston who were fighting against a plan to build a garbage dump near their homes. This neighborhood, Northwood Manor, was mostly Black.
The lawsuit, called Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management, Inc., was the first of its kind in the U.S. It argued that placing the dump there was environmental discrimination. This meant it was unfair treatment based on race, going against civil rights laws.
Dr. Bullard, who had just finished his Ph.D., became an expert helper in the case. He studied where waste dumps were located in Houston. His study, called 'Solid Waste Sites and the Black Houston Community', was the first to show how environmental racism worked in the U.S. He found that most city-owned garbage dumps and incinerators were in Black neighborhoods. This was true even though Black people made up only a quarter of the city's population. This discovery made Dr. Bullard decide to spend his career fighting environmental racism. He said it was like "apartheid," where white people made decisions, and Black people and other people of color had no say.
Early Research on Environmental Racism
Throughout the 1980s, Dr. Bullard expanded his studies. He looked at environmental racism across the entire American South. He studied communities in cities like Houston, Dallas, Texas, and places like Emelle, Alabama. In all these areas, he found the same pattern. There were many more environmental dangers, like toxic waste sites, in Black communities compared to white communities. This meant Black citizens faced higher health risks.
In 1990, Dr. Bullard published his first book, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality. In this book, he explained that the Environmental Justice Movement was growing. This movement was made up of everyday people of color across America. They were protesting environmental racism. Dr. Bullard saw this movement as a new combination of the civil rights movement and the environmental movement from the 1960s.
Leading the Fight for Change
Dr. Bullard became a key leader in the environmental justice movement. In 1990, he and other important professors wrote letters to government leaders. They asked for meetings to talk about how the government dealt with environmental discrimination.
One important result was the creation of a special group within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This group, which later became the Office of Environmental Justice, was set up to address these issues.
Dr. Bullard also played a big part in organizing the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991. He helped find and connect over 300 groups working on environmental issues. At this summit, a list of seventeen "Principles of Environmental Justice" was created. These principles became a guide for the movement.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an important order called Environmental Justice Executive Order 12898. This order aimed to make sure all people, regardless of race or income, have the same level of protection from environmental and health hazards. Dr. Bullard was part of the group that advised President Clinton on this order.
Dr. Bullard continued to help African American communities across the U.S. For example, his expert help was crucial in a case that stopped a uranium enrichment plant from being built in a Louisiana community. When asked what keeps him going, Dr. Bullard said it's the people who fight back. He noted that in recent years, they have been winning cases, and companies are now aware they cannot unfairly harm communities anymore.
Academic Career
Dr. Robert Bullard has taught at several universities:
- Texas Southern University, 1976-88
- University of Tennessee, 1987–88
- University of California at Berkeley, 1988–89
- University of California-Riverside, 1989–94
- Clark-Atlanta University, 1994-2011
- Texas Southern University, 2011–present (as Dean and Distinguished Professor)
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Bullard has received many awards for his important work:
- Conservation Achievement Award, National Wildlife Federation, 1990
- Named one of thirteen "Environmental Leaders of the Century" by Newsweek, 2008
- Building Economic Alternatives Award, Co-op America, 2008
- John Muir Award, Sierra Club, 2013
- American Bar Association, Award for Excellence in Environmental, Energy, and Resources Stewardship, 2015
- Iowa State University Alumni Association, Alumni Merit Award, 2015
- Stephen Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication, 2019
- 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award (Champions of the Earth)
- Member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, 2021
- University of California Berkeley Ecology Law Quarterly, Environmental Leadership Award, 2022
- The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2022
- University of Johannesburg, Honorary Doctorate, 2022
- Georgetown University, Honorary Doctorate, 2022
- Membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 2022
Selected Publications
Dr. Bullard has written many books and articles about environmental justice:
- Bullard, RD (1983). Solid waste sites and the black Houston community. Sociological Inquiry 53, pp. 273–288.
- Bullard, RD, ed (1983). Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots. Boston: South End Press.
- Bullard, RD (1987). Invisible Houston: The Black Experience in Boom and Bust. College Station Texas A&M University Press.
- Bullard, RD (1989). In Search of the New South: The Black Urban Experience in the 1970s and 1980s. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
- Bullard, RD, ed (2000a). [1990]. Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality, 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN: 978-0813367927
- Bullard, RD, ed (1994). Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
- Bullard, RD, Grigsby, JE, III, & Lee, C (1994). "Residential Apartheid: The American Legacy. Los Angeles: Center for Afro-American Studies.
- Bullard, RD, & Johnson, GS, eds (1997). Just Transportation: Dismantling Race and Class Barriers to Mobility. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
- Bullard, RD, Johnson, GS, & Wright, BH (1997). Confronting environmental injustice: It's the right thing to do. Environmentalism and Race, Gender, Class Issues. Race Gender and Class 5 (1), pp. 63–79.
- Bullard, RD, & Johnson, GS (1998). Environmental and economic justice: Implications for public policy. Journal of Public Management and Social Policy 4 (4), pp. 137–148.
- Bullard, RD, Johnson, GS, & Torres, AO (1999, Fall). Atlanta: Megasprawl. Forum: For Applied Research and Public Policy 14 (3), pp. 17–23.
- Bullard, RD, Johnson, GS, & Torres, AO, eds (2000). Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- Bullard, RD, Johnson, GS, & Torres, AO (2000, February/March). Dismantling transportation apartheid through environmental justice. Progress: Surface Transportation Policy Project 10 (1), pp. 4–5
- Bullard, RD (2000b). "People of Color Environmental Groups Directory." Flint, MI: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
- Bullard, RD, ed (2003). Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Bullard, RD (2004). Highway Robbery: Transportation Racism and New Routes to Equity. Boston: South End Press.
- Bullard, RD (2005). The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
- Bullard, RD (2007). Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Bullard, RD (2007). The Black Metropolis in the Twenty-First Century: Race and the Politics of Place. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Bullard, RD (2009). Race, Place, and Environmental Justice After Hurricane Katrina: Struggles to Reclaim, Rebuild, and Revitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
See also
