John Oliver knows about Dallas. Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" took on the issue of environmental racism this week, and the first example came from Dallas.
- Oliver used several clips from BET's 2021 episode of "Disrupt and Dismantle," hosted by Soledad O'Brien.
What happened: Viewers were shown redlining maps from the 1930s and 1940s overlaid with industrial maps, showing that minorities have long been forced to live close to heavy industry.
- "This is no coincidence," Oliver said.
Oliver explained that life expectancy in Joppa, a predominantly Black area, is just 71, while in Highland Park — where the population is mostly white — life expectancy is 84.
Zoom in: Then he told his audience about Shingle Mountain, the massive, toxic mound of old shingles built by Blue Star Recycling, which claimed it planned to recycle roofing shingles into asphalt.
- Oliver explained that even after activists finally got the shingles moved, they still ended up in a landfill just across the highway.
Go deeper: Watch the entire segment.
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