Racial zoning has been a common practice in the 20th century, prohibiting certain groups of people from living in specific neighborhoods. This policy has led to the exclusion of Black and Brown people from high-quality grocery stores, hospitals, and other essential services, resulting in health risks and environmental hazards. In the case of Paul Quinn College, students and staff protested against the expansion of a dump that would increase pollution and sickness in the neighborhood. The community is still fighting for the zoning to be changed to help the Floral Farm community.
It’s been affecting Black people since they set in stone racist zoning laws in all of the 50 states.
A conversation about the environment has been something that has long been stressed in society since kids were old enough to list the planets in order. For years, scientists have noted the importance of taking care of our environment because we only get one, and we can see that with the recent increase in hurricane damage, the Sahara Desert has flooded. Animals are becoming more extinct than ever before. However, the common thread that seems to be missing is how Black people have been affected by their environment since it was legalized for us to own land.
Have you ever wondered why liquor stores are so conveniently placed in Black neighborhoods? Why are our Black and Brown neighborhoods so far away from quality grocery stores? Why are there so many hospitals near white neighborhoods, but we can’t find a single physician in Black neighborhoods?
Racial zoning is defined as the policy that prohibits certain groups of people from being able to live in specific neighborhoods. It was a common practice in the 20th century once all African Americans could access the resources to have actual homes. However, in a common racist American history, neighborhoods wanted to remain segregated. White families were fearful that Black Americans carried incurable diseases, and they also did not want their neighborhood to become a “crime city.”
In 1910, Baltimore, Maryland made history for enacting the first housing segregation law when they passed an ordinance making it illegal for African Americans to live in white neighborhoods. In 1913, the Highland Park community in Dallas, Texas, prohibited the sale of homes to minorities up until 1948. And even though the Supreme ruled racial zoning unconstitutional in 1917, it did not combat the racism that was happening as it pertained to housing.
Redlining is when a person, or in this case, a group of people, will deny financial services to people based on their race and/or ethnicity. According to the Urban Institute, “’Redlining’ of neighborhoods, one of several explicitly racist United States federal housing policies in the mid-twentieth century, blocked Black households and other communities of color from accessing home mortgages—and as a result homeownership—for decades.” In so many words, the case of redlining explains why Black neighborhoods, or predominantly Black organizations, businesses, or institutions, are placed where they are today.
In 2011, Paul Quinn College, the oldest historically Black college west of the Mississippi River, campaigned against the expansion of the McComma Bluffs Landfill into the Highland Hill Area. The City Council at the time was trying to expand a dump that would have harmful effects not only on the college but also on the surrounding neighborhoods. This dump would increase pollution and sickness, but it would also affect the very life of the neighborhood, students, faculty, and staff.
So on September 21st and the 28th, Paul Quinn students and staff protested outside the City Council until a judge ruled that the expansion would be halted.
Keep in mind that Paul Quinn College is located in a food desert. Not only that, but the institution is also the home to Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III Global Preparatory Academy, and KIPP Oak Cliff Academy. So, instead of the City Council voting to add a grocery store, a hospital, or anything helpful to this area, they decided to vote for something that could harm it instead.
One could argue that there is a “grocery store” down the street from the institution. However, that isn’t one of high quality. It is debatable whether the food is entirely edible or not. Aside from that, the store is located just beside and across the street from two liquor stores. All of these are within walking distance of the student body of an HBCU.
However, this HBCU isn’t very far away from Southern Methodist University. A predominantly white institution that is located a measly 20 minutes away from Paul Quinn. The issue? According to Google Maps, Southern Methodist has three Target locations around it, one of them being a grocery store. It has two hospitals near the campus, one nine minutes away and the other thirteen minutes away. The closest hospital to Paul Quinn is fifteen minutes away. And while it may not seem like a big deal as of now, it does become a big deal because fifteen minutes away can decide whether a student or adult can make it back home, breathing.
And while it is clear that exclusionary housing is terrible, and people are trying to rectify it, for the most part, the damage is done.
Exclusionary housing practices have increased housing prices, making it difficult for lower-income families to purchase a home. It lacks new development, leaving people in the same broken homes that are safety hazards. However last but not least, it creates an enormous amount of environmental hazards.
Floral Farms, which is only four minutes away from Paul Quinn, knows the story of environmental hazards more than anyone. The community of Floral Farms was wrecked due to the shingles dump being placed right in their community. It was placed directly beside resident Dr. Marsha Jackson’s home. Due to the toxic waste in their neighborhood, community members have cited permanent health damage from the shingle dump.
And while it was cleared in 2021, the damage had already been done. Currently, the community of Floral Farms and Downwinders At Risk is still fighting for the zoning to be changed to help the Floral Farm community at City Council.
Another example is the GAF factory in West Dallas. The GAF is a shingle manufacturing company that is supposed to move in 2029. However, the community is pushing for it to be moved much earlier.
The factory has been in the neighborhood for 80 years, leaving the Brown community members with permanent health damage, and it discourages the local kids from even wanting to play outside because of how much harmful pollution is being spread in their neighborhood.
Janie Cisneros, the lead advocate against the factory, has tried numerous times to get the plant shut down earlier than the official date; however, the CPC has denied her. So, she has taken her case to the federal level, where they are currently in court.
But environmental injustice, redlining, and exclusionary zoning aren’t just a singular practice in the state of Texas. In fact, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in a predominantly Black area, there is an entire factory, Southern Spear Ironworks, responsible for manufacturing steel in a neighborhood. Directly across from the factory is Nephew’s Bar and Grill, and if you continue down the street, there are multiple homes as well.
The point is that exclusionary zoning is something that primarily affects Black and Brown people. It explains why we have more significant health risks, are more likely to need medical assistance, and can’t get it. To break free from this, we have to become bigger advocates of our communities.
We have to go to City Hall, we have to go to City Planning Commission hearings and demand for a change. We must work to change these harmful practices to instill hope and a better future in the generations that come after us.
This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.
