After learning about ‘Environmental Racism’ in class on Tuesday, I was surprised that I had never before heard the term. According to The Environmental Justice Movement, “people who live, work and play in America’s most polluted environments are commonly people of color and the poor” (1). In Helena Maria Viramontes’ novel ‘Under the Feet of Jesus,’ environmental racism is clearly depicted.

    “A large percent of U.S Latinos live and work in urban and agricultural areas where they face heightened danger of exposure to air pollution, unsafe drinking water, pesticides and lead and mercury contamination” (2). This quote is important in describing the situations that Estrella’s family and friends face throughout the novel. Each character is in someway affected by the pollution of the pesticides, which are sprayed from a biplane onto the crops. The character most affected however is Alejo, who is directly sprayed with chemicals; ” At first it was just a slight moisture until the poison rolled down his face in deep sticky streaks” (Viramontes, 77). Alejo must be sprayed in order for Viramontes to portray to us how dangerous the use of pesticides really is.

    Viramontes brings attention to the problems with pesticide use, and does so by painting a realistic picture of what it would be like to be an immigrant farm worker.These people live in poverty despite all their hard work. They work long hours and for barely any pay and are confronted with unhealthy living conditions. For example, Estrella is worried about the pesticides that spill into the ditch and the effect the consumption of the water would have on her having a healthy baby. “You think ’cause of the water our babies are gonna come out with no mouth or something?” (Viramontes, 33). Estrella’s concern over consuming water is just one of the many things that we take for granted along with the hard work of migrant farm workers.

    In class on Tuesday, we were shown a commercial of Sun-Maid raisins. The commercial presented us with luscious green grapes stating that nothing goes into producing the ‘luscious’ grapes other than sunshine and the grapes themselves. The commercial depicted the landscape as pastoral and free from labor. Well, from reading ‘Under the Feet of Jesus,’ we are able to see all the labor that actually goes into producing agricultural products and can understand how completely false their pastoral landscape is. I found this commercial to be ridiculously undermining. They completely discredit all the workers behind getting the grapes into production and by describing the landscape as pastoral, are exploiting the workers.

Renee Skelton, Vernice Miller. “The Environmental Justice Movement.” Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council, 12 2006. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <www.nrdc.org>.