In the Wake of the Storm: Environment, Disaster, and Race After Katrina

Do environmental disparities by race and class really exist? Researchers have gone back and forth, with early studies supplanted by newer studies supplanted by still newer studies. Although the evidence is still emerging, the best assessment is that disparities are common, and researchers increasingly suspect that some observed differences in health outcomes are attributable to environmental factors, particularly in combination with social stressors related to poverty and lesser access to health care. And it is not just income: race seems to be a more significant predictor in many studies, suggesting the importance of deeply rooted systems of privilege and discrimination.

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http://www.russellsage.org/news/060515.528528