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Reporting focuses on connection between asthma rates and redlining

ChiR3_Asthma4_Neighborhoods.png
ChiR3_Asthma4_Neighborhoods.png

Why are people who live in certain neighborhoods around Northeast Ohio, places like Hough and Slavic Village in Cleveland or North Hill in Akron, more likely to suffer from asthma than the national average. Data from the University of Richmond and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the asthma rate at 8% among adults. One other shared trait between these neighborhoods? They were likely redlined more than a century ago. Redlining is the historically discriminatory lending practice used to refuse home loans to communities of color.

The intersection of asthma and redlining was the focus of new reporting from Ideastream's Connecting the Dots series, which looks into how racism contributes to poor health outcomes. We first brought you this conversation in September.

Later in the program, we bring you a story from June focused on Winston Willis, a prominent African-American businessman of the 1960s and 1970s. Willis was the subject of a new podcast from WBUR. The podcast, “Last Seen” explored the stories of prominent people who have otherwise been lost from public memory.

Guests:
- H.L. Comeriato, Staff Writer, The Buckeye Flame.
- Conor Morris, Reporter, Ideastream Public Media.
- David Margolius MD, Director of Public Health, City of Cleveland.
- Ajah Hales, Producer, WBUR

Leigh Barr is a coordinating producer for the "Sound of Ideas" and the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable."