The article finds that because Newark's population is 75% black and Hispanic, the hiring problem has a disproportionate impact on minorities. Blacks and Hispanics are most at risk of this issue.
The author is Cynthia E. Lamy, she is a developmental and National Institute for Early Education Research educational psychologist and research fellow at Rutgers University.
The article describes infrastructure as something that needs to be built with a focus on people as well as the environment. This can improve transportation (reduced air pollution in Newark), create a more sustained access to power and energy, increase economic mobility, make communities more resilient, improve health, etc. This company has done work on sustainability projects in regards to infrastructure in Newark, which demonstrates their engagement with sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
Some vulnerabilities blacks in Newark face are health issues like blood lead poisoning because they cannot afford to solve the issue.
This study was conducted by using testing data from 4th-grade students from North Carolina, and comparing if they matched high blood lead levels. This method was conducted in seven counties through normal statistical methods.
Nearly half of Newark's school's are contaminated with dangerous levels of lead. Or so they were two years ago when this article was published. This relates to infrastructure because we are poisoning poor, primarily black and hispanic communities, whom already have low resilience. Because they live in empowerished neighborhouds, their children go to lower income schools, and when they drink the water provided there, they put themselves at risk of cancer, infertillity, and other results of lead poisoning. If Newark's infrastructure was more balanced between white and black communities, there would not be impoverished areas that have poisonous drinking water at schools, as the water standard in the schools would have been raised to that of higher income communities.
In order to allow jobs for Newark locals, a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice called "Bridging the Two Americas: Employment and Economic Opportunity in Newark and Beyond" addresses the solutions for this problem. They call for more monitoring and enforcement of local hiring requirements under the first source ordinance.
SNAP and WIC are two organizations helping low-income families. 30,000 Newark children are receiving SNAP benefits, and 12% of Newark residents are eligible for WIC. SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and WIC is the Supplemental Nutrition Program Women, Infants, and Children. Both organizations provide nutritious food to low-income families to prevent food insecurity.
This bar graph shows that blacks have the lowest median household income out of all races. This means that they are at most risk of hazards, they are most affected by poverty, with Hispanics being the second most affected.
This study is published the Environmental Health Perspectives. The journal helps explain the continuity between human health and the environment. They publish topics like toxicology, epidemiology, exposure science, and risk assessment. The publication is ranked highly among professionals and has a rating of 8.44.