When Pigs Fly

Posted by nmcknzie

While watching the documentary in class about the factories and industries all being built in rural southern neighborhoods, I realized that the South seems to always catch the short end of the stick. I found the industries reasoning for placing the factories in residential areas as selfish and inhume. Those poor people do not deserve to smell the horrid scent of feces coming from pigs and cattle. Not only is it unfair and insensitive, the residents are stuck there. They have been living in those areas for years, in some decades and they have to continue to live there because they can not afford to move. The cost to relocate is outrageous to these rural Southerners, especially when they most likely will not be able to see their current house. The factories bring health issues to the residents that live in the vicinity, mostly respiratory problems. The children growing up there often have asthma. Beyond the physical health issues, I could imagine the mental health issues are being affected as well. Living amongst the odor and filth of these factories causes stress and maybe even depression. The fact that this is your home and there is no where else to go is hard to process. All of this could be avoided, but the CEOs of these industries are not caring obviously because the factories are continuously being built. The residents of these communities have tried rallying against the factories to have them removed, but it is not successful. Their are not enough laws in place in reference to these industries just building up anywhere. The tax break that the companies are receiving for being in the South is the main reason the factories prey on this region. The government is not concerned because they know the residents of these communities are in the low end of the economy. These residents are mostly low working class people. But who is to judge if they deserve a clean environment to raise their children in? Definitely no human. It starts a cycle and the cycles are hard to break. The cycle of being stuck in low class in a low end neighborhood. The rural residents are victims of the cycle too. It causes a lack of motivation in people because they feel like they are invisible in their own community. As the residents of the community were speaking out on the issue of living near the factories, I was saddened and instantly thankful that I am not affected. But how selfish of me… As I later learned in class in the discussion of the documentary, my own community is being affected. Westwood is a community in Southwest Memphis, and I basically grew up there. I never realized the scent that everyone else was referring to, but Memphis is a victim of industries being too close to residential areas. This is called environmental racism, and although people are not aware, it is very common in the South. As time moves on, industries are going to continue to invade Southern communities, but it must be stopped. The long term effects of the residents is not worth the pretty penny the factories bring in. But who am I fooling, it is all about the pretty penny in the free country of United States of America, even if the low class are slaves in their own communities because they have no money to move away from these huge factories.