As the toll on the city has become clearer, a dozen residents and community leaders said in interviews that structural issues such as poverty, food deserts, poor housing and a lack of investment by government have made the impacts on working-class, Black and Brown neighborhoods much worse. They expressed concerns that surrounding wealthier and Whiter suburbs appeared to be more prepared, their response better coordinated, their power and roads restored faster.
“This area is so heavily impacted by these systemic issues, and it’s largely because of poverty,” Al Robinson, a Christian leader in the community who housed 130 people for four days in his church, said. “And impoverished people happen to be people of color.”
While there is no definitive government information about which areas have received the most attention, activists have collected photos and other information that appear to show yawning disparities in how quickly Black and White areas of the city were plowed. Kate Eskew, a food bank volunteer who lives two blocks away from the Buffalo city line in Kenmore, a small village that is 85 percent White and has a much higher median income than its neighbor, said plows have been going up and down her streets for days.
The Washington Post tried to check the Buffalo’s plowing data with a system that uses cameras and GPS to show where the trucks have been, but many of the live feeds were either disabled or said “no live camera at this time” on Wednesday. Buffalo Common Councilmember Joe Golombek Jr. said the same thing to a resident in a Facebook comment late last night. The Post requested plowing data from Erie County, but it was not immediately provided.
“This area is so heavily impacted by these systemic issues, and it’s largely because of poverty,” Al Robinson, a Christian leader in the community who housed 130 people for four days in his church, said. “And impoverished people happen to be people of color.”
While there is no definitive government information about which areas have received the most attention, activists have collected photos and other information that appear to show yawning disparities in how quickly Black and White areas of the city were plowed. Kate Eskew, a food bank volunteer who lives two blocks away from the Buffalo city line in Kenmore, a small village that is 85 percent White and has a much higher median income than its neighbor, said plows have been going up and down her streets for days.
The Washington Post tried to check the Buffalo’s plowing data with a system that uses cameras and GPS to show where the trucks have been, but many of the live feeds were either disabled or said “no live camera at this time” on Wednesday. Buffalo Common Councilmember Joe Golombek Jr. said the same thing to a resident in a Facebook comment late last night. The Post requested plowing data from Erie County, but it was not immediately provided.
MSN
www.msn.com
