Document Type
Poster Session
Department
Sociology
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Jono Anzalone
Keywords
Environmental Racism, Redlining, Greenlining, Climate Change, Social Justice, Policy Change
Abstract
Redlining describes the deliberate actions made in the 1930s by the U.S. Government’s Home Owners’ Loan Corporation(HOLC), in which the race of a neighborhood’s residents was used to measure its degree of desirability. This information was produced through maps, which consequently denied these individuals’ access to mortgages and other financial services. Although redlining was outlawed by the 1968 Fair Housing Act and the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the legacy still lingers today. The United States’ Department of Justice launched the Combating Redlining Initiative in 2021, which has since received $107 million in settlements for neighborhoods of color across the country. Furthermore, research has drawn attention to the heightened severity of climate hazards in formerly redlined neighborhoods. This includes increased levels of air pollutants such as NO2 and PM2.5, greater land surface temperatures (LST), higher levels of light pollution, and decreased vegetation. These climate hazards have further magnified health inequities among the people residing in these communities, such as elevated rates of asthma and heat-related illnesses. Modern day consequences of redlining pose threats to the environment, public health, and social equity. Greenlining is a forward-thinking policy effort that originated from the nonprofit organization, The Greenlining Institute. Their mission is to invest in communities of color by advocating for policies that eliminate race as a barrier to success. Observing the environmental and health differences in redlined neighborhoods demonstrates the ways that climate change is disproportionately experienced by communities of color in the United States. With a strong focus on environmental and social justice, this project identifies the need for policy change through the use of greenlining initiatives.
Greenlining: A Policy Response to Environmental Racism
Redlining describes the deliberate actions made in the 1930s by the U.S. Government’s Home Owners’ Loan Corporation(HOLC), in which the race of a neighborhood’s residents was used to measure its degree of desirability. This information was produced through maps, which consequently denied these individuals’ access to mortgages and other financial services. Although redlining was outlawed by the 1968 Fair Housing Act and the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the legacy still lingers today. The United States’ Department of Justice launched the Combating Redlining Initiative in 2021, which has since received $107 million in settlements for neighborhoods of color across the country. Furthermore, research has drawn attention to the heightened severity of climate hazards in formerly redlined neighborhoods. This includes increased levels of air pollutants such as NO2 and PM2.5, greater land surface temperatures (LST), higher levels of light pollution, and decreased vegetation. These climate hazards have further magnified health inequities among the people residing in these communities, such as elevated rates of asthma and heat-related illnesses. Modern day consequences of redlining pose threats to the environment, public health, and social equity. Greenlining is a forward-thinking policy effort that originated from the nonprofit organization, The Greenlining Institute. Their mission is to invest in communities of color by advocating for policies that eliminate race as a barrier to success. Observing the environmental and health differences in redlined neighborhoods demonstrates the ways that climate change is disproportionately experienced by communities of color in the United States. With a strong focus on environmental and social justice, this project identifies the need for policy change through the use of greenlining initiatives.
