Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Introduction

In this exhibit I focus on environmental racism/ residential segregation which is a form of racism in which hazardous waste is disproportionately placed in communities of color, creating disparities among them. I look at the history of redlining in the United States and see how that impacts the health of people in those respective areas. I show two examples of environmental racism, the cancer alley in Mississippi and nuclear colonialism in New Mexico.

Overview Essay

Redlining

Redlining refers to the discrimination that happens when banks, insurance companies, etc., map out who loans are going to.  This involves the refusal of loans, mortgages and insurance  and how they are limited to certain people. The history of redlining is a diblilitating. The term itself redlining refers to the redlines on maps that separate “hazardous” predominantly- black neighborhoods. The use of the map started in the 1930s , when the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Federal Home Loan Board would use this map to deny loans and investment services to African Americans. In 1934, The National Housing Act was passed , providing loans strictly to white neighborhoods. The Federal Housing association acts as a source of housing reassurance for home buyers. It is key to know they have played  a huge role  in housing segregation throughout history. In which they promote restrictive covenants, which mainly included preventing houses to be sold to African Americans. Their loans were also at one point only being used in white neighborhoods. Another important piece of information is that, If  black people were able to buy homes in white neighborhoods, the FHA would not  insure anyone in that neighborhood because they’re now looked at as a threat to integration. 

Access to loans in African American Communities

As stated before it is harder for African American to get loans from banks for many different reason but it all comes back to race and social inequality. Racial discrimination has caused an undereduction of financial well being in the black community. The lack of resources and education throughout history has  created what is referred to as the “ Wealth gap” between black people and white people. Which reveals that the median net worth for white families is 8x as much as black families.

Gentrification

Gentrification refers to the process when wealthier people move into poor neighborhoods and change housing, which changes the quality of that neighborhood. One common example is New York, we go there as tourists to see the bright lights and get the vibe from this big city but what we don't see is the increase of rent, decline in diversity  and expulsion of residents. Along with higher rent, gentrification can have a very negative impact on neighborhood efficacy, decreasing social cohesion and need for social control. This can lead to what is called white fight and white flight. White Fight the resistance to integration of diversifying within neighborhoods, by white people towards black people. They began to riot and do everything in their power to get black people out of  “ their neighborhoods”. When the act of white fight fails, the result is white flight. White Flight involves the migration of white people from integrated areas/ neighborhoods.Take Ruby Bridges as an example. American Civil Rights activist and the first black person to go to an all white school in the 1960s. Even as a young child Bridges had to experience  discrimination, harassment and hatred all because she challenged segregation . When those actions failed, white parents  pulled their children out of school in efforts to stop integration. 

Eminent Domain

Eminent Domain is the idea of compensation without consent. Eminent domains often target low SES areas and neighborhoods because of their lack of financial or political power to demand change. Low SES areas tend to be largely black or latino making the minority population an objective target. Properties or land are cleared out for areas that must be useful to the public, often these are freeways, pipelines and other methods of public use. 

NIMBY

“Not in my backyard” is a slogan made by people and communities subjected to and surrounded by harsh chemicals. Landfills and other wastelands emit harmful pollutants and toxins both into the and sometimes even drinking water. A second perspective debates that due to the knowledge that these minority communities lack the power to have these substances removed, this is why they are disproportionately placed there. This also depletes the market demand for these homes, making it harder to move out. These kinds of disparities leave more than enough space to develop/contract unavoidable illness or disease. Flint, Michigan for example STILL suffering to find a sufficient source of drinking water: a crisis they’ve been facing since April of 2014. Flint is in the top 5 of the poorest but also blackest cities in Michigan. Our very own community is on a pedestal for health disparity and lack of basic human needs. In this cae drinking water. 

Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is among the most basic measures of a population's health, it's crucial to point out the trend that something as simple as the neighborhood you live in can determine your life expectancy. In fact an article states that “We found a 19.6 (±0.6) year gap in life expectancy between the socio demographic groups with the longest life expectancy (highest SES quintile of Asian females; 84.9 years) and the shortest (lowest SES quintile of African American males; 65.3 years).” This observation, based on a large and representative US population, confirms prior reports of a mortality disparity between African-Americans and whites after accounting for various measures of SES.

Well Being

The neighborhoods that we live in can affect our wellbeing, one prime example is policies that holistically improve the physical quality of neighborhoods for example, policies that simultaneously improve the conditions of housing, that create engaging public spaces, that enhance walkability, reduce reliance on automobile transportation, and promote mixed land use. These physical changes will not only enhance the physical qualities that we think might be relevant to health but will also trigger changes in health-relevant social environments.

Morbidity

In relation to gentrification, a study actually shows relocated public housing residents reported more physical and mental health problems and poorer self-reported health compared to current residents of the broader community. Essentially when people are removed and reallocated from their neighborhoods they experience more health issues.

Food Deserts

Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, have a healthy lifestyle. In lower SES areas, there a lot of food deserts where. Another problem low-income residents face is accessing grocery stores. Even if the funds were available to purchase healthy food, there may not be a grocery store that is geographically accessible to those residents. This lack of access to a grocery store is typically referred to as a food desert