Black in the Time of Climate Change

The Blackest City in the U.S. Is Facing an Environmental Justice Nightmare

Detroit’s most vulnerable residents face inequalities like toxic air, lead poisoning, and water shutoffs

This is the first story in a new series from OneZero. “Black in the Time of Climate Change” will examine how Black communities across the United States experience and adapt to environmental degradation and other impacts of global warming.

Growing up in southwest Detroit, Vince Martin thought it was normal for the sky to be orange.

When he was three years old, his family moved from Cuba to one of the Black areas of town. At the time, discriminatory housing practices segregated the city. His Afro-Cuban family settled in the 48217, now Michigan’s most polluted zip code, where 71% of the population is Black and air pollution makes the sky look like it’s on fire.

Specifically, the Martins moved to Boynton, a working-class neighborhood. The town sits next door to a Marathon oil refinery and its sprawling industrial campus.

Martin, now an environmental activist in Detroit, remembers the refinery being made up of “one or two tankers” when his family settled there in the…