Study Finds Higher COVID-19 Risk Factors in Redlined Neighborhoods - Like Parts of Baltimore

"People of color are disproportionately contracting COVID-19, and because they are more likely to have underlying health conditions, are also facing an increased risk of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19 (CDC, 2020). While COVID-19 has pushed racial health inequities into the national spotlight, the underlying differences in social, economic and environmental conditions that have given rise to inequities in COVID-19 infection, transmission and severe illness are not new (CDC, 2020)."

The just-released Redlining and Neighborhood Health study of multiple cities - including Baltimore - by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), working with two researchers each from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Richmond, has found that:

"Further, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the country’s Black population, Barber et al. (2020) examined racial residential segregation and COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia, guided by theoretical frameworks for studying structural racism. The HOLC’s historical practices of redlining and other discriminatory lending practices were instrumental in driving the stark segregation seen in Philadelphia today. While not explicitly measuring HOLC redlining maps, Barber et al. (2020) acknowledge how these historical processes established the physical, economic and social conditions that are giving rise to racial inequities in COVID-19. They illustrate how structural racism embedded in our interlocking social, legal, economic and political systems interact to drive disproportionate prevalence of COVID-19 infection, transmission and mortality in Black communities (Barber et al., 2020). Their results showed that the most segregated neighborhoods in Philadelphia were more likely to have structural susceptibility to COVID-19 (a measure encompassing neighborhood indicators that increase the likelihood of exposure and community transmission, limit ability to access testing and treatment, and capture economic hardship). Further, the COVID-19 case rate in the five most segregated neighborhoods was twice that of the COVID-19 case rate in the five least segregated neighborhoods. These findings suggest that segregation acts as a structural driver of racial inequities in Philadelphia and calls for both short- and long-term solutions that center structural racism and health equity in the COVID-19 response."

Concerning Baltimore, a comparison between the 1930 situation and 2020 indicates that almost all of the parts of the city that had high racial segregation have continued to have the Center for Disease Control's High Vulnerability Index census tract score regarding COVID-19 possibility. Read an explanation of how to interpret the SVI map of Baltimore. The SVI combines social and economic, housing and transportation, minority status and language, household composition, and disability to provide numerical area comparison. Since development in the 2000s, indices of social vulnerability have been an important tool for emergency planning and public health assessment. 

To counter this, the study recommends:

• Restore the Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) rule that President Trump and Secretary of Housing Ben Carson have cancelled. This rule encouraged communities to identify and reduce concentrated areas of poverty.
• Support inclusionary zoning that adds affordable housing choices outside of the redlined sections of the city and promotes the reduction of concentrated areas of poverty.
• Expand the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to include non-banks and to modernize how this law is implemented.
• Encourage locally relevant solutions such as expanded Section 8 and rent control/vouchers. Protect public housing.
• Modernize and expand access to data and other information for local communities on lending and investment in their area.
• Explore how reparations, housing and desegregation intertwine. Talk with residents about how best to preserve culture and community while moving towards a solution where one’s health is not detrimentally affected by the place where they were born.

*****

Source: National Community Reinvestment Coalition, September 10, 2020