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Environmental racism

Main article: Environmental racism

See also: Race and health

Neighborhoods' current socioeconomic susceptibility is impacted by the historical redlining in the 1930s, one of several racist and discriminatory practices. Redlined communities continued to be segregated by race and economic status as a result of this discriminatory strategy, which was based on racial demography and perceived risk for mortgage investment. Which leads to investments in those areas to be less likely. Policies related to redlining and urban decay can also act as a form of environmental racism, which in turn affect public health. Urban minority communities may face environmental racism in the form of parks that are smaller, less accessible and of poorer quality than those in more affluent or white areas in some cities, which may have an indirect effect on health, since young people have fewer places to play, and adults have fewer opportunities for exercise. A 2022 study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters found redlined areas in 202 US cities had higher levels of air pollution (nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter) in 2010. One of the most important environmental risk factors, exposure to combustion-related air pollutants is directly linked to a host of health effects, such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and cardiovascular death. African-Americans are 75 percent more likely than others to live near facilities that produce hazardous waste and pollutants. Philadelphia, which has a 44 percent Black population, received a warning from the American Lung Association in 2019: "If you live in Philadelphia County, the air you breathe may put your health at risk." It was found that a refinery in Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, is responsible for most of the toxic air emissions in the city. The refinery had not been in compliance with the Clean Air Act for 9 out of the 12 quarters through 2019.

Redlined districts of New York

Levels of pollutants in relined areas are at a higher concentration than those that weren't.

Professor Kyung Hwa Jung of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons wrote in 2022 on the legacy of residential redlining in American history and its implications for the temporal patterns of air pollution surrounding schools in New York City today. Using land-use regression models from the NYC Community Air Survey, they looked at the annual average concentrations of combustion-related air pollutants (black carbon (BC), particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitric oxide (NO)) in a 250-meter radius around schools. They concentrated on schools because, given how densely populated New York City is, a 2006 study that was cited suggested that schools may be a significant source of exposure to BC and PM2.5 because they are frequently situated close to busy roads and heavy truck routes. in which "6.4 million US children attended schools within 250 m of a major roadway and were likely exposed to high levels of traffic pollution." Moreover, a recent study discovered that historical redlining in American cities has been connected to differences in air pollution levels, with greater levels of PM2.5 and NO2 in redlined communities than in non-redlined regions. Black, Hispanic, and Asian individuals are generally more exposed to PM2.5 than white individuals are. Black and Hispanic groups are also more exposed to BC, even when socioeconomic status has been taken into account. Kyung Hwa Jung's study came up with the same results indicating that compared to other areas, historically redlined communities in New York City had greater rates of Black people, deprivation, socioeconomic vulnerability, and inferior youth opportunity. They also had higher diesel emissions and a larger density of local truck routes. Despite the fact that pollution levels in NYC have decreased compared to historical levels due to recent environmental laws, non-redlined neighborhoods still exhibit significant levels of air pollution.

In 1990, Robert Wallace wrote that the pattern of the AIDS outbreak during the 1980s was affected by the outcomes of a program of "planned shrinkage" directed at African-American and Hispanic communities. It was implemented through systematic denial of municipal services, particularly fire protection resources, essential to maintain urban levels of population density and ensure community stability. Institutionalized racism affects general health care as well as the quality of AIDS health intervention and services in minority communities. The over-representation of minorities in various disease categories, including AIDS, is partially related to environmental racism. The national response to the AIDS epidemic in minority communities was slow during the 1980s and 1990s, showing an insensitivity to ethnic diversity in prevention efforts and AIDS health services.

Environmental justice scholars such as Laura Pulido, Department Head of Ethnic Studies and Professor at the University of Oregon, and David Pellow, Dehlsen and Department Chair of Environmental Studies and Director of the Global Environmental Justice Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, argue that recognizing environmental racism as an element stemming from the entrenched legacies of racial capitalism is crucial to the movement, with white supremacy continuing to shape human relationships with nature and labor.