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Dec 6, 2023
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Health Policy Response Paper
Ohemaa Boateng
University of Pittsburgh Department of Africana Studies
AFRCNA 1710:African American Health Issues
Dr. Abi Fapohunda, DrPH, MPH,MS
October 20, 2023
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The Monstrous Legacy of Residential Segregation
Residential segregation is a widely common and highly destructive form of
discrimination that has disparaged Black and Brown communities for centuries. The article
“Residential Segregation and Health: History, Harms, and Next Steps” goes on to define it as “a
central dimension of social stratification… and mechanism through which durable categories of
inequality such as race, have been created and maintained” (Arcaya & Steil, 2023). Residential
segregation has prevailed through harmful policies put in place such as redlining, exclusionary
zoning, state-sanctioned White-supremacist violence, and discriminatory housing practices.
These policies have served as a means of maintaining a certain hierarchical social order where
only White people benefited. Residential segregation plays a major role in determining access to
social determinants of health, and Black and minority populations have suffered as a result
(Arcaya & Steil, 2023).
Analyzing “Residential Segregation and Health: History, Harms, and Next Steps”
The article “Residential Segregation and Health: History, Harms, and Next Steps”
thoroughly depicts the appalling conditions that resulted from residential segregation. It served
as another means of control and a way to prevent Black and Brown populations from ever
breaking free of the shackles that is White supremacy. Exclusionary policies such as redlining
have been so effective that their lingering effects still cause disparities to this very day. The Hill
District, a formerly redlined neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania remains largely
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segregated and suffers from disinvestment (Rutan,2017). People from these areas have been
reduced to living in communities that are in close proximity to toxic environmental exposures,
have few resources, and have poor housing conditions, all contributing to the development of
poor health and chronic illness.
This health policy brief holds a large significance as it educates readers on the ugly, racist aspects
of American history that this nation attempts to conceal. Prior to taking this class and reading this
article, I did not understand the impacts of residential segregation. Reading this health policy
brief allowed me to develop an understanding of residential segregation and how it contributes to
health inequity and illness by preventing Black and Brown communities from obtaining access to
vital resources and placing them in neighborhoods that further contributed to their struggle.
Residential segregation is a necessary part of history that must be discussed, as it is still a major
contributing factor to many disparities in Black and Brown communities.
Is It Possible to Undo the Lasting Effects of Residential Segregation?
Residential segregation has left a legacy so grotesque that it is difficult to ever think of a
future where minority populations are not affected by housing discrimination and residential
segregation. However, I do believe that while it is not possible to not completely erase the effects
of residential segregation, it is possible to mitigate them. Our government is painfully aware of
residential segregation and has failed to bring about much action to combat it. I think that the
United States is capable (resource-wise) of undoing the effects of residential segregation yet will
not choose to do so in a large capacity as many people hold the harmful belief that residential
segregation has been beneficial. America is largely White and has benefitted from keeping
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