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Info about Fair Housing in Maryland - including housing discrimination, hate crimes, affordable housing, disabilities, segregation, mortgage lending, & others. http://www.gbchrb.org. 443.347.3701.
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***** Source: NCRC email, October 16, 2020. |
"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:
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Source: National Community Reinvestment Coalition, September 10, 2020
By Kirsten Grieshaber | AP
“In order to prevent more and more users from becoming radicalized on the web, it is important to identify the real dimensions of anti-Semitism — also taking into account the implicit forms that might become more explicit over time,” said Matthias Becker, a linguist and project leader from the Technical University of Berlin.
The team also includes researchers from King’s College in London and other scientific institutions in Europe and Israel.
Computers will help run through vast amounts of data and images that humans wouldn’t be able to assess because of their sheer quantity, the foundation said.
“Studies have also shown that the majority of anti-Semitic defamation is expressed in implicit ways – for example through the use of codes (“juice” instead of “Jews”) and allusions to certain conspiracy narratives or the reproduction of stereotypes, especially through images,” the statement said.
As implicit anti-Semitism is harder to detect, the combination of qualitative and AI-driven approaches will allow for a more comprehensive search, the scientists think.
The problem of anti-Semitism online has increased, as seen by the rise in conspiracy myths accusing Jews of creating and spreading COVID-19, groups tracking anti-Semitism on the internet have found.
The focus of the current project is initially on Germany, France and the U.K., but will later be expanded to cover other countries and languages.
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Source: Washington Post, September 21, 2020.
The Community Reinvestment Act, known as the CRA, was crafted to encourage banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. Under the CRA, regulators routinely look at banks’ lending practices for low- and moderate-income borrowers, so that those with less money also have access to loans to buy houses, cars and make other purchases.
“The CRA is a seminal statute that remains as important as ever as the nation confronts challenges associated with racial equity and the covid-19 pandemic,” Fed Gov. Lael Brainard wrote in a statement. “We must ensure that CRA is a strong and effective tool to address ongoing systemic inequities in access to credit and financial services for low- and moderate-income and minority individuals and communities...... ”
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View maps and read the full report |