African-American Communities: More Environmental Challenges

Need a reason to celebrate Earth Day? Here's one. According to the Center for American Progress, more than 71 percent of African Americans and 66 percent of Latinos live in areas that fail to meet one or more of the Environmental Protection Agency's air-quality standards.

The EPA says that our minority communities are susceptible to more environmental challenges because we tend to live closer together and are more likely to live near toxic wastelands and sewers. Additionally, because of the high incidence of air pollution in our communities, we also suffer from higher rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases.