Segregation-Produced Urban Heating Disproportionately Affects Black and Latino Children Before Birth & In Early Years

A just-published report by the (London) Guardian summarizing recent environmental research shows that racial segregation caused by decades of discrimination is directly affecting Black and Latino children before they were even born and in their early years. The recent analysis of over 30 medical studies found "women of color, particularly Black women, and their babies are most likely to suffer low birth weights, pre-term births and stillbirths from climate-driven threats exacerbated by racial segregation. Hot temperatures can cause strain upon women and their unborn children, while heat can also react with pollutants from cars and power plants to create ozone, a ground-level pollutant that can cause an array of health problems."

“This pollution cause placental inflammation and affects the baby,” said Susan Pacheco, an associate professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center who co-authored research released in summer of 2020 that found that pregnant women exposed to heat and air pollution are at heightened risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. “This can cause impacts in childhood but also bad outcomes when they are adults, such as heart and kidney disease. Even what we would consider limited exposures can affect the development of the baby. Unfortunately many children will be marked for life because of what their mothers are exposed to, affecting the brain, lungs, pancreas, everything.”

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Source: The (London) Guardian, February 16, 2021.

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Other sources for this research include:

"Association of Air Pollution and Heat Exposure With Preterm Birth, Low Birth Weight, and Stillbirth in the US: A Systematic Review." Bruce Bekkar, MD; Susan Pacheco, MD; Rupa Basu, PhD; et al Nathaniel DeNicola, MD, MSHP. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(6):e208243. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8243.

"Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands?" Jim Morrison. E360 Digest. September 12, 2019.

"Racist Housing Practices From The 1930s Linked To Hotter Neighborhoods Today." Meg Amderson. NPR. January 14, 2020.

"Study Finds Link Between Deadly Heatwave Exposure and Redlining Housing Policies." Nina Lakhani. E360 Digest. January 16, 2020.

"The Effects of Historical Housing Policies on Resident Exposure to Intra-Urban Heat: A Study of 108 US Urban Areas." by Jeremy S. Hoffman 1,2,*OrcID, Vivek Shandas and Nicholas Pendleton.  Climate 2020, 8(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8010012.

 

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HUD Announces It will enforce the Fair Housing Act to Prohibit Housing Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity

HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) issued a memorandum stating that (1) HUD now interprets the Fair Housing Act to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and (2) directs HUD offices and recipients of HUD funds to enforce the Act accordingly. The memorandum begins implementation of the policy announced in President Biden’s Executive Order 13988 on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation (Executive Order), which directed executive branch agencies to develop further actions that could be taken to combat such discrimination.

The memorandum directs the following:

(1) HUD will accept and investigate all jurisdictional complaints of sex discrimination, including discrimination because of gender identity or sexual orientation, and enforce the Fair Housing Act where it finds such discrimination occurred.

(2) HUD will conduct all activities involving the application, interpretation, and enforcement of the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination consistent with its conclusion that such discrimination includes discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.

(3) State and local jurisdictions funded by HUD’s Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) that enforce the Fair Housing Act through their HUD-certified substantially equivalent laws will be required to administer those laws to prohibit discrimination because of gender identity and sexual orientation.

(4) Organizations and agencies that receive grants through the Department’s Fair Housing Initiative Program (FHIP) must carry out their funded activities to also prevent and combat discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.

(5) FHEO Regional Offices, FHAP agencies, and FHIP grantees are instructed to review, within 30 days, all records of allegations (inquiries, complaints, phone logs, etc.) received since January 20, 2020, and notify persons who alleged discrimination because of gender identity or sexual orientation that their claims may be timely and jurisdictional for filing under this memorandum.

In response, Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), issued the following statement:

“We are glad to see that HUD is moving forward to implement President Biden’s executive orders without delay, and taking strong action to prohibit housing discrimination, which is so often faced by the LGTBQ+ community. This community faces some of the highest rates of homelessness, which stems in large part from discrimination. They also face discrimination at many homeless shelters. Full enforcement of the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation was long overdue, and we applaud HUD for moving quickly.”

Some relevant resources regarding this subject are:

Same-Sex Couples And Mortgage Lending - https://ncrc.org/same-sex-couples-and-mortgage-lending/.

Lending Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples in Mortgage Applications - https://ncrc.org/same-sex-couples-and-mortgage-lending/.

Read the February 11, 2021 HUD press release.

Read the February 11, 2021 NCRC statement.

Amtrak Fund Compensates People with Disabilities Facing Barriers at Stations

People with mobility disabilities who encountered inaccessible Amtrak stations can begin submitting claims for monetary compensation. Amtrak created the compensation fund as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) which found the railroad had engaged in disability discrimination violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Amtrak was given twenty years after the ADA was passed in 1990 to make stations accessible, but by 2010 had failed to make progress. An investigation in 2013 by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) found numerous barriers at stations all over the country. NDRN then submitted a complaint to the DOJ which spurred their investigation and eventual settlement with Amtrak.

Read more here and find out if you qualify for compensation. Claims must be submitted by May 29, 2021.

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Source: National Disability Rights Network, February 11, 2021.