Economic deprivation and racial segregation: comparing Superfund sites in Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan.
The research presented here weighs the ability of two major explanations of social inequality-Massey and Denton's racial segregation explanation and Wilson's emphasis on economic deprivation (concentrated poverty)-to predict environmental inequality. Two sets of logistic regression analyses are used to predict the location of Superfund sites in Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan providing a conditional understanding of environmental inequality within a larger sociological context. The analysis includes a general examination of the two theories in all census tracts in both cities and a set of analyses focusing upon Black neighborhoods in Detroit. The findings indicate that there is support for explanations of environmental inequality that include both racial segregation and economic deprivation, but that the more powerful of the two is economic deprivation. The results suggest that even though African-American neighborhoods disproportionately house Superfund sites, these facilities are more likely to be located in Black neighborhoods that are economically deprived.
Department of Sociology, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, TX 78666-4616, USA. clsmith@txstate.edu
Chad L
CL
Smith
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008824:Michigan; D009922:Oregon; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011287:Prejudice; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018505:Waste Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data