Press "Enter" to skip to content

Buffalo serves as an example of how disasters reveal racial disparities in communities.

Whites were better prepared for the weather, and their streets were cleared more quickly, he says. Saunders: Great Lakes cities are as familiar with segregation as they are with snow. Frida Ghitis: Rust Belt region has starkly segregated neighborhoods for Blacks and Whites. This is rooted in the arrival of Black Southerners to Northern cities in the early 20th century, she says. Racism embedded in city maps cannot be undone overnight, but one first step is to acknowledge its effects.