The enduring impact of historical and structural racism on urban violence in Philadelphia

Abstract

Public health approaches to crime and injury prevention are increasingly focused on the physical places and environments where violence is concentrated. In this study, our aim is to explore the association between historic place-based racial discrimination captured in the 1937 Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) map of Philadelphia and present-day violent crime and firearm injuries. The creators of the 1937 HOLC map zoned Philadelphia based in a hierarchical system wherein first-grade and green color zones were used to indicate areas desirable for government-backed mortgage lending and economic development, a second-grade or blue zone for areas that were already developed and stable, a third-grade or yellow zone for areas with evidence of decline and influx of a "low grade population," and fourth-grade or red zone for areas with dilapidated or informal housing and an "undesirable population" of predominately Black residents. We conducted an empirical spatial analysis of the concentration of firearm assaults and violent crimes in 2013 through 2014 relative to zoning in the 1937 HOLC map. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors at the time the map was created from the 1940 Census, firearm injury rates are highest in historically red-zoned areas of Philadelphia. The relationship between HOLC map zones and general violent crime is not supported after adjusting for historical Census data. This analysis extends historic perspective to the relationship between emplaced structural racism and violence, and situates the socio-ecological context in which people live at the forefront of this association.

Structural and Social Determinants of Health in Asthma in Developed Economies: a Scoping Review of Literature Published Between 2014 and 2019

“…For instance, the 1930s historic US policy of "redlining," which designated neighborhoods as "high" or "low" risk for housing loans, has had lasting impact by influencing neighborhood development, residential zoning, road and highway placement, and wealth distribution [17,18]. As neighborhoods with higher proportions of people of color were often rated as "high" risk, or redlined, these communities are now disproportionately burdened by negative downstream effects [19,20]. Although the political climate and government policies are foundational to health, there is a dearth of studies that specifically evaluate the effects of governance on asthma.…”

Associations between historical redlining and birth outcomes from 2006 through 2015 in California

“…Following Aaronson et al and Jacoby et al, we adjusted this analysis for 1940s census tract measures, as current measures likely mediate the relationship between 1940s measures and current health [16,29]. HOLC grades led to reduced home ownership and wealth-generating opportunities in redlined and "yellow-lined" communities, which we hypothesize could subsequently lead to worse current birth outcomes.…”

Alcohol outlets and firearm violence: a place-based case–control study using satellite imagery and machine learning

“…Strikingly, the same was found for income, suggesting that matching absorbed variation in complex phenomena that contribute to neighbourhood effects. (However, the proportion of nearby black residents was positively associated with shootings risk even after matching and other statistical adjustments, demonstrating that the structural drivers of racial disparities in exposure to urban firearm violence extend well beyond neighbourhood environments and household economic circumstances 28…”