Day 10: Housing Segregation

DAY 10 Of YWCA Spokane’s 14-Day Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge

We hope this challenge provides you with an opportunity to better understand concepts related to race, power, privilege, and leadership.

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13 | DAY 14

Thank you for taking this challenge! If this is your first day of joining us for the 14-day equity challenge, welcome. If you are returning after previous engagement with the challenge, nice work! We are glad you are here. From Monday, June 15th through Sunday, June 28th, YWCA Spokane will send, those who sign up for our challenge, daily emails prompting you to take time to learn about racial equity and social justice.

We encourage you to take note of any insights in a daily log or diary. Consider setting aside time to talk with friends about what you have learned and how the topics introduced impact our community. Invite your network to join you on this challenge and share on social media with #ywcaequitychallenge. Thank you for participating!

DAY 10: housing SEGREGATION

When we hear the word “segregation”, most of us probably assume it’s in a historical context. Racial segregation is still impacting many peoples’ lives today. However, segregation looks different now than it has in the past. Today, housing segregation is markedly more systemic, under the surface, and covert than it was in America during the pre-civil rights era. Systemic issues, such as segregation, can be easy for individuals and communities who have racial privilege to ignore and/or be unaffected by. 

Housing segregation has wide-reaching effects, and not just in our homes and neighborhoods. In fact, housing segregation has been linked to disparities in wealth, employment, education, health, legal status, and more.

Dr. Scott Hippe, a family physician in Boise, Idaho, spoke at TEDx Spokane in 2018 about Saving Lives In Slow Motion. He brought attention to determinants of population health and how socioeconomic and environmental factors are responsible for the majority of health issues (50%). He suggests a paradigm shift of where we place our priorities in order to foster a healthy community and to save lives. Hippe’s talk reinforces our understanding that where you are located and the conditions in which you are placed contribute to an individual’s ability to achieve good health.

Today, we challenge you to take a detailed look at how housing segregation manifests today and what impact it has on the communities that it disenfranchises.

If you have…

5 Minutes	and	10 Minutes	and	30 Minutes
	and		and
Read this article  about the history of “redlining,” a term used to describe racially discriminatory home lending practices.	and	Watch this video  from NPR about the impacts of housing segregation and redlining on individual and community wealth, health, education, and policing.	and	Watch this video from VOX about the racial makeup of our neighborhoods vs our workplaces. You can also use the interactive map to compare your own city to others.

BONUS: Listen to this episode of NPR’s Code Switch podcast about how housing segregation impacts every aspect of life.

Daily Reflection

Once you have completed today’s challenge, take a moment to reflect on any insights you experienced. How did the challenge make you feel? What is something you learned? Did you notice anything about yourself after taking the challenge? Consider sharing this new awareness with a friend or group to help deepen your understanding of the information. Consider tracking your reflections on the below daily log or start an online group with friends to encourage daily sharing with each other about the challenge topics.

Challenge Reflection Log

Share each challenge online with #YWCAEquityChallenge

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13 | DAY 14

Do you have resources you think we should share? Any insights you would like to share with us? We welcome you to leave your comments here. Thank you!