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Samantha Bodin

AAS 332

Letter To The Editor

Dear Editor,

As I am sure that you are aware, our perception of the world around us is heavily

dominated by the media and people of high power who use the media to create a fear of crime

and a biased perception of the people around us. And while I know that most of the population

uses media as their resource to interpret the world around them, it is the people and topics which

are underrepresented in the media in which hold the most value and truth. The COVID 19

pandemic has been one that has affected every single individual in the world; millions have lost

their jobs, families have been separated, and unfortunately, the pandemic has caused the death

rate in the entire world to skyrocket. But here’s the thing-- while this may be surprising, due to

the lack of representation in mass media, those in lower-income communities, specifically

predominantly black communities, have truly struggled the most due to a lack of education,

income, and health care. To put this issue into perspective, I would like to discuss the housing

and COVID-19 crisis in Louisiana.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Louisiana government implemented an

emergency rental assistance program that was intended to provide emergency rental assistance to

Louisiana residents who were at risk of homelessness or the loss of housing. While at first glance

this program seems like a great step towards a return to normalcy for those who have

experienced an economic decline during this terrible time, it is the rental laws that have been in

place prior to the pandemic in which demonstrate the downfalls and lack of true assistance

within this program. To truly understand the degree of the issues within the rental laws, I am
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going to break down the laws that have been put in place to protect landlords and owners of low-

income housing. First, under Louisiana law, a tenant cannot withhold rent or sue to compel

repairs within the rental home. In addition to this, there are no laws to prevent a landlord from

increasing rent or providing grace periods for those in low-income housing who are struggling to

pay even a deducted rent. Finally, tenants are not allowed to withhold rent if landlords fail to

provide essentials such as water, air conditioning, or heat. And while all of this may seem like an

easy fix to the average middle-class individual, it should be known that the average temperature

in Louisiana is around 94 degrees, and due to its high humidity rates, Louisiana is prone to

hurricanes and torrential rainstorms. With this being said, individuals in low-income

communities barely have enough income to pay the reduced rent, how do you expect them to pay

for the appliances in which can make their homes livable? So while low-income individuals are

allowed to find low-income housing, these homes are often inadequate and don’t provide the

necessary provisions for an individual to comfortably reside in Louisiana’s harsh climate. Now

in continuing the discussion of the shortcomings in which this rental program possesses, I would

like to address some statistics regarding how difficult it is to find one of these low-income

housing options. In the state of Louisiana, there are 566,061 total renters and 320,000 in which

are considered low income. Due to the substantial increase in the need for low-income

households, 105,000 affordable housing units are still needed for low-income families (Talamo,

2016). So yes Louisiana has implemented rental programs, but with statistics like this, how likely

do you think it is for a family to find a home when they are competing with 320,000 thousand

families and over 100,000 shortages in housing spaces.

In continuing the discussion of rental laws and housing accommodations in Louisiana, I

would like to discuss the direct impact and targeting in which this issue has on low-income
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families, specifically people of color. The poverty rate for African Americans in the state of

Louisiana is higher than that of both Hispanics and white populations. Due to the increase in

housing shortages, people of color are forced to move into run-down, and sometimes even

contaminated, areas of Louisiana that have previously been evacuated by predominantly white

residents. Due to the terrible conditions of both the environment and housing themselves,

previous studies have demonstrated that black families living in low-income housing in

Louisiana are gaining higher rates of COVID compared to the rest of the population due to a lack

of access to health care, unemployment, less education, and poor housing conditions in which

directly increase the rate of infection. As demonstrated in the journal LSU Health conducts the

first study on neighborhood deprivation and COVID in Louisiana, “people living in the most

deprived neighborhoods had an almost 40% higher risk of COVID 19 compared to those residing

in the least deprived neighborhoods” (NewsRx Health, 2020). The Louisiana government has

made a habit of using abandoned, unkept areas of Louisiana as a way to solve the housing crisis

in the lower-income communities. Are you starting to see and recognize the problem? The

government’s solution to COVID is causing individuals in low-income communities to contract

the virus. It has been consistently noted that low-income black communities’ lack of proper

education and health care has been in direct connection with the higher rates of COVID 19

exposure in these low-income communities. So why doesn’t the government put more money

into the school systems in the parishes with the lowest income rates? Or work with pre existing

landlords to improve the conditions of the home so that these people are desperately forced to

decide between homelessness or a home filled with mold and exposure to disease?

Now Editor, if this isn’t already enough for you to see the importance and need for this

issue to be discussed and posted, don’t worry, I have more. One Parish which is renowned for the
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recent housing of low-income residents is St.Johns, a parish that used to house predominantly

white residents prior to the installation of the Denka Performance Elastomer Facility. Since the

installment of the facility, the St Johns parish has become a popular living sight for those in low-

income housing and is currently made up of 57% black residents. In 1987 the St.Johns parish

tokened the nickname “Cancer Alley” due to the overwhelming cancer rates caused by the

resident’s exposure to the toxins released by the Denka Performance Elastomer Facility. As

demonstrated in the journal Waiting to die: toxic emissions and disease near the Denka

performance elastomer neoprene facility in Louisiana’s cancer alley, “Residents of census tract

708 in St John Parish, Louisiana, face the highest nationwide cancer risk from air pollution due

to chloroprene emissions from the Denka Performance Elastomer facility” (Nagra, 2021). The

residents of the St.John parish have been affected by this exposure since the 1960s and due to

this, they currently have a 95% higher risk of getting cancer compared to the rest of the United

States. Now you may be wondering how does this toxic issue relate to COVID-19. Well, I’ll tell

you: the toxins from the chemicals that are dispensed by the factory cause illnesses in which

decrease lung capacity and cause further infection which leads to vulnerability and high

transmission rates of COVID-19. Due to the horrible living conditions, such as this, and the lack

of health care and education on how to protect against COVID, African Americans make up 55%

of the total COVID deaths in the state of Louisiana. The failure which the government has

demonstrated in addressing these important issues is only adding to the increasing redlining in

which was previously present in Louisiana. As demonstrated in the article Why are Blacks dying

at higher rates of COVID-19? “Health disparities have always existed for the African American

community… [coronavirus is] shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is because, yet

again, when you have a situation like a coronavirus, they are suffering disproportionately. We
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will get over coronavirus, but there will still be health disparities which we really do need to

address in the African American community” (Ray, 2021). The government’s failure to address

these preexisting issues, which have gone unnoticed due to the overwhelming and continuous

redlining of low-income black communities, has been emphasized due to the increasing research

done on COVID-19 and its death rates. Unfortunately, members of the Louisiana black low-

income community have been used as an example, for decades, of the impact which redlining

has on causing the major gap between the treatment and access to knowledge that is present

between low-income black communities and modern predominantly white communities.

Now, Editor, I hope that the information which I have provided in this letter gives you the

knowledge and understanding of just how important and urgent this situation truly is. Not only is

this issue furthering the spread of COVID-19 and the decline of both the mental and physical

health of those in low-income communities, but it is simultaneously emphasizing the redlining in

which was already present in the Louisiana community. Wealthy developed areas of Louisiana

are constantly investing in resources and architectural techniques to lighten the destruction of

Louisiana's consistent turbulent weather conditions. However, those in low-income communities

are constantly forced to live in rundown, unprotected areas of the state in which are most prone

to the horrors of these natural disasters. And what's worse, these low-income residents are then

forced to squalor on their own desperately trying to find a home due to the severe shortage in

low-income housing. And where is this housing you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you. These homes

are in other run-down communities which are just as prone to natural disasters and increased

exposure to illness. So tell me editor, is this issue worthy of your paper?

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References:

LSU Health conducts first study on neighborhood deprivation and COVID in Louisiana. (n.d.).

NewsRx Health. NewsRX LLC.

“Waiting to Die”: Toxic Emissions and Disease Near the Denka Performance Elastomer

Neoprene Facility in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. (n.d.). Environmental justice. New

Rochelle: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Ray, R. (2020, April 19). Why are blacks dying at higher rates from covid-19?

Brookings. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020104/09/why-are-blacks-dying-at-higher-rates-from-

covid-19/.

Talamo, L. (2016, June 11). Renters: Do you know your rights? The Times.

Retrieved October 15, 2021, from

https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/watchdog/2016/06/11/few-louisiana-renters-know-

rights-substandard-housing/85317842/.