Under the current administration, we’ve come to expect an ideologically activist Department of Justice that seeks out instances of pollution and racism and acts accordingly. But when the DOJ looks for instances where pollution itself is racist, the department veers into injustice. National Review’s Roger Clegg pointed out a DOJ publication that touted this approach in its spring edition. According to a memorandum issued by Bill Clinton during his administration: “In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, each Federal agency shall ensure that all programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance that affect human health or the environment do not directly, or through contractual or other arrangements, use criteria, methods, or practices that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin.” That means if an organization receiving federal funds — like a city government — needs to somehow affect the environment, it needs to justify that it’s not racist to boot. Justice thus assumes that creating a landfill or creating a facility that deals with harmful chemicals in a certain location may have racist intent when in fact the intent may be purely economic. Furthermore, labeling neighborhoods “black” or “white” fails to take into account their evolution, as when they undergo white flight or gentrification. But never mind all this when social justice – rather than colorblind justice – is the DOJ’s ultimate goal. More…