Root Shock: The Consequences of African American Dispossession

Award Year: 2000	Investigator: Mindy Fullilove	Budget: $250,000	Categories: Health Disparities, Urban Health
Abstract: Title I of the Housing Act of 1949 was an important federal initiative that funded urban revitalization. Directed at older, core city neighborhoods, these urban renewal projects disproportionately affected African Americans. Dr. Fullilove's project explores the contribution of spatial dislocation policies to current health disparities. It will improve our understanding of how urban renewal affected African American life and health, how it has contributed to direct and indirect causes of illness and the depletion of social cohesion and other capital. Situation analysis will be used to assess the history and impact of urban renewal in Newark, Roanoke, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and St. Louis. The study addresses two specific policy issues the contribution of spatial dislocation to excess morbidity and mortality as well as the potential for using post-conflict resolution to remedy the harm done to displaced African Americans.