Changing Local Systems to Promote Environmental Health and Justice

Abstract

nessed environmental injustice in graphic detail. Lowincome people— predominantly African Americans— suffered most from this crisis, were underserved by disaster response efforts, and recovered more slowly. Many residents were permanently displaced. As researchers, agencies, and the media searched for explanations, it became clear that historical patterns of land use had put lowincome communities and people of color in harm’s way (Levitt and Whitaker 2009). Lack of resources limited the ability of marginalized communities to recover. Multiple vulnerabilities including chronic disease, mental health issues, and addiction compounded the effects of the disaster on these populations. According to Bates and Swan (2010, 21), “Katrina swept away the ‘traditional belief’ that natural disasters are equally devastating on populations and do not discriminate in terms of what is destroyed.” Longstanding policies and practices created the environmental disparities that lay at the root of the hurricane’s disproportionate impacts on these communities (Pastor et al. 2006; Levitt and Whitaker 2009; Pardee 2005; Wailoo, Dowd, and O’Neill 2010). Decades of land use and economic development decisions led to concentrated poverty in areas at high risk of flooding. Housing policies failed to provide safe housing, particularly for communities of color. Lack of transportation resources limited the mobility of poorer residents. These and other environmental conditions— such as lowincome residents’ lack of access to affordable and nutritious foods, preventive health care, and opportunities for physical activity— contributed to the high rates of chronic disease and the poor health status of these same communities, reducing their resilience to environmental disaster. 1 Changing Local Systems to Promote Environmental Health and Justice