User:Aburk398/sandbox

The origin of the area known as “Cancer Alley” is deeply rooted in racism and the traditional sharecropping systems along the Mississippi River. Plantations found along the river were purchased by large industries that transformed the farming landscape into one filled with petrochemical and waste management plants. The areas on which these plants were built consisted of largely African American populations who did not have the agency to resist. The Dow Chemical Company originally wanted to build along the Gulf Coast of Texas but was met with intense resistance from well-organized unions, so they changed their focus to the Mississippi river where segregation, the under registration of black voters, and a lack of education ensured minimal resistance. The construction of factories in low-income neighborhoods drives the value of property even lower, which prevents people from being financially able to leave their homes and move to areas with less pollution, effectively trapping the local population in the area.