Institute for Health and Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
Institute for Health and Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
WMJ. 2024 Nov;123(5):350-355.
Housing discrimination as one of the main mechanisms for reinforcing racial segregation has persisted historically in the United States through a process known as "redlining." In recent years, researchers across different disciplines have utilized the iconic "residential security maps" created by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930s to analyze the structural roots of racial disparities. HOLC maps designated grading of "best" to "still desirable" to "definitely declining" and "hazardous" to urban areas where percentage of African American and foreigners were among the reordered measures.
Given that sales and marketing of tobacco products also present a historical connection to structural racism in the US, this study examines how historical redlining relates to current geographies of tobacco retailers in Wisconsin.
Analyses were conducted for 4 cities in Wisconsin with available HOLC maps. We used negative binomial models to account for spatial heterogeneity and overdispersion of retailers, and we controlled for present-day sociodemographic characteristics.
Findings indicated that the hierarchy of HOLC grades are reflected in the present-day retailer density, and areas historically graded as "less desirable" have a higher present-day density of tobacco retailers. The result of the statistical model shows that poverty and percentage minority are also significant factors in distribution of tobacco retailers.
These results highlight that to address the structural roots of health disparities, we need intervention strategies that employ a comprehensive look at the historical legacies of discrimination.
住房歧视作为强化种族隔离的主要机制之一，在美国历史上一直存在，这一过程被称为“红线”。近年来，不同学科的研究人员利用房主贷款公司（HOLC）在 20 世纪 30 年代创建的标志性“住宅安全地图”来分析种族差异的结构性根源。HOLC 地图将评级定为“最佳”到“仍然理想”到“明显下降”和“危险”，以非洲裔美国人和外国人比例为排序标准的城市地区。
鉴于销售和营销烟草产品在美国也与结构性种族主义有着历史上的联系，本研究探讨了历史红线与威斯康星州当前烟草零售商的地理位置有何关联。
对有 HOLC 地图可用的威斯康星州的 4 个城市进行了分析。我们使用负二项式模型来解释零售商的空间异质性和过离散性，并控制了当前的社会人口特征。
研究结果表明，HOLC 等级的层次反映在当前零售商的密度上，历史上被评为“不太理想”的地区，现在的烟草零售商密度更高。统计模型的结果表明，贫困和少数民族比例也是烟草零售商分布的重要因素。
这些结果表明，要解决健康差异的结构性根源，我们需要采取干预策略，全面审视歧视的历史遗留问题。
