Mercato globale e discriminazione territoriale. Il processo di gentrification etnica.Il caso del Sud degli Stati Uniti.

Environmental "racism" refers to public policies or industrial practices that link socio-environmental disadvantages and consequences for individuals or groups of people based on the colour of the skin or for ethnic differences resulting in an inequitable allocation of costs. Environmental "racism" is therefore closely linked to the role of the institutions ,which influence the use of the terrritory ,the creation of regulations to protect the environment and the location of polluting sites near the areas where certain ethnic groups "live,work and play". The system has thus generated two opposite practices : NIMBY (not in my back yard) and PIMBY (put it in blacks' back yard),which essentially involve the creation of very different and unbalanced ethnic neighborhoods in terms of income of residents and quality of infrastructures. It can therefore be said that there is also a process of ethnic gentrification. The real estate market itself appears to be governed by ethnic or racial discrimination,resulting in different values for each ethnic group. The case of hurricane Katrina will be discussed for its particularly devastating effects precisely in the areas inhabited by the black American population.