A new report from the UNC Center for Civil Rights highlights the issues faced by some segregated communities in North Carolina.
The report refers to these neighborhoods as “excluded communities.”
“What we’re talking about are communities that are somehow not fully included in the political, social, civic, and economic life of the state of North Carolina,” says Peter Gilbert, the author of the report
The report found that the people who live in these segregated communities are much less likely to live near high-performing schools - and twice as likely to live near incinerators and landfills.
“People of color in our state are facing the burden of these environmental hazards in a hugely disproportionate way and if you don’t take conscious proactive action the problem is only going to be compounded and perpetuated,” says Gilbert.
The report also includes an online map of these communities. The majority of them are in the Piedmont and eastern North Carolina.