Building a Healthy Environment

Most U.S. localities are legally tasked to make decisions that protect the health, safety and general welfare of its inhabitants. While environmental health should be provided for all populations, communities of color are disproportionately burdened with environmental health hazards, such as proximity to pollutants, or inadequate access to green spaces, healthy food or transportation.

As a result of exposures and lack of health amenities, these communities experience a higher rate of health problems. The essayists in this section confront these examples of environmental racism, recognizing that multiple approaches and cross- sector collaboration must occur to make our systems more equitable.

Discussion Questions

Read through the following questions and answer them based off what you learned from the readings:

1. Many of the essayists indicate that in addition to data, community leaders are critical to addressing equity in environmental health. In what ways might community-led efforts impact health outcomes?

2. In his essay, Jeremy Hoffman equates climate justice with racial justice. What is your definition of climate justice? How is this similar or different from racial justice? Do you see ways in which these two are linked?

3. Ryan Rinn warns of “green gentrification” which happens when public investment in green spaces increases property values and prices out low- and middle-income residents. Have you seen this occur in your community or others? Do you know of policies that can combat it? If not, see this report, what solutions resonate with you?

4. Do you think the bus should be free? Why or why not?

Exercises

Is there a connection between the sections of your city that were redlined and the presence of green infrastructure (i.e., tree cover, parks, open spaces)? Study the redlining map of your city, noting neighborhoods that were redlined. How does the green infrastructure of these areas compare to that of other areas in the city?

Who are the local community leaders in your city that are working toward health equity? Make a list of these people and organizations and learn how they are organizing, educating and leading in your community.

Find the map of your city’s bus/train system to assess who it serves. Pick a starting point in a lower-income residential area and determine which routes you would have to take to reach a significant employment center. Using the system’s timetable, determine how long it would take to get to work.

Identify 1-2 community development corporations, grassroots organizations, or churches doing good work in historically excluded communities. What work are they doing? Is there a way for you to support it?

Additional Resources

Parks and the Pandemic

Green Spaces Tied to Smaller Racial Gap in Coronavirus Infections
Chelsea Cirruzzo, U.S. News (May 4, 2021)

Fighting for Food Justice in a Gentrified Richmond

Cat Modlin-Jackson, RVAMag (April 23, 2019)

Green Gentrification
Isabelle Anguelovski, James JT Connolly, Laia Masip, Hamil Pearsall (2017)

Heat Wave
Eric Klinenberg (2015)

Throwing Shade in RVA
Jeremy Hoffman (July 13, 2017)

Planned Destruction
LaToya S. Gray (July 22, 2020)

Why the “wrong side of the tracks” is usually the east side of cities
Stephen DeBerry, TED Talk (April 2018)

RVAgreen 2050

Should Public Transit Be Free? More Cities Say, Why Not?

Ellen Barry, The New York Times (January 14, 2020)

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Introduction

Message from the Authors

The Richmond Racial Equity Essays launched in 2021 with the goal of promoting thought leadership and public dialogue toward advancing racial equity in Richmond, Virginia, but also as a multi-media model for other cities grappling...

Section I

Introduction

Planning for Inclusive Communities

Urban planning concerns itself with the design and uses of space (or land) that focus on the physical form, economic functions, and social impacts of the built and natural environments in cities, towns and places in our communities. Although...

Section II

Introduction

Section III

Building Sustainable and Affordable Housing

Housing is a basic need around which our health and stability is built, our neighborhoods are centered and housing (through homeownership) is a cornerstone for wealth building. Thus access to...

Section III

Ensuring Education Equity
The quality of one’s education has a significant impact on both their access to opportunity and life outcomes. Yet, many Black and Brown children lack the access to a quality education within....

Section IV

Section III

Section IV

Advancing Economic Empowerment

The link between capitalism and systemic racism has been with us even before the founding of the United States, as using people for profit is one of our country’s original sins. The compounding...

Section V

Section III

Section IV

Shifting Power and Reimagining Partnerships

Central among our ongoing reckoning with racial justice is the question of how power is shifted and shared through partnerships. Historically marginalized communities...

Section VI

Section VIII

Section VII

Lifting Up Latino Leadership and Language Access

Latinos will soon be a majority in many cities across the U.S., yet the numbers of Latino leaders continue to lag across sectors as compared with other groups. This inequitable distribution of power...

Section VII

Section VIII

Section VII

Creating Community, Healing, and Justice

In the journey to dismantle structures of white supremacy there must be attention paid to community rebuilding and healing. Trauma from racism has negatively impacted Black and Brown people, and...

Section VIII

Building a Healthy Environment

Section IX

Section VIII

Summary

Thank you for reading, watching, and listening to the content from the Richmond Racial Equity Essays. We hope this guide helped you delve deeper into the material and furthered your learning and...

Building a Healthy Environment

Featured Essays and Media

Discussion Questions

Read through the following questions and answer them based off what you learned from the readings:

Exercises

Examples

City of Tempe Urban Forestry Master Plan

Olympia Washington Zero Fare Program

Land Justice Fund

Southside ReLeaf

Park Related Anti-Displacement Strategies

Additional Resources

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Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Section I

Introduction

Introduction

Section II

Introduction

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Section IV

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Section IV

Section V

Section III

Section IV

Section VI

Section VIII

Section VII

Section VII

Section VIII

Section VII

Section VIII

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Section IX

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Section VIII

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