Lehigh Valley minorities, particularly Hispanics, plagued by inequity, study finds

Systemic racism and bias is limiting the quality of life for minority groups across the Lehigh Valley — particularly the region’s growing Hispanic population — according to a study by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

The study, an update of a 2018 report using more recent statistics, breaks down census data to measure opportunities in neighborhoods across the Lehigh Valley — matters like income, preschool enrollment, access to the Internet, commute times, student poverty and home ownership. The same census data provides breakdowns of those neighborhoods by how residents identify racially and ethnically.

The report found minorities, particularly those living in the region’s urban cores, have lower education levels and lower-paying jobs, less access to transportation, and are less likely to own their own homes than their white counterparts. Hispanic residents trailed other groups in almost all categories measured by the report.

“It is absolutely systemic racism. Whatever the power in control decides what they want to do, they can exert their power onto others,” said Becky Bradley, executive director of the commission.

Between the study’s findings and the nationwide protests targeting injustice and inequality, regional planners and their supporters hope local leaders will recognize problems and act on them. Elected and appointed officials could use this information to redesign planning and zoning laws and create fairer communities and a stronger economy.

“We have to know and understand why we have this inequity. It’s really important on our end that we understand this, so you know where you need to have your investments,” Bradley added.

Ashleigh Strange, regional organizer of Lehigh Valley Stands Up, said she believes the region is better primed to address the problems stressed in the study than it was a year ago. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis drove countless Americans to protest racial inequity and social justice. While the study doesn’t mention police policy, it does suggest areas where funding could be redirected. Many municipalities spend close to 40% of their budgets on police, but some of that money could go to mental health or family services better able to lift up more residents.

“Everyone’s budget is a moral document. You’re able to see what the priorities are,” she said. “We need to be more imaginative about where we’re putting that money and how we’re lifting up all those other groups.”

Delia Marrero, manager of operations at the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley, said the growing cost of living and stagnant wages have made problems worse in recent years. Affordable housing has become harder to come by for low-income families — which are disproportionately Hispanic.

The coronavirus has amplified those problems, Marrero said, but made more people aware of the underlying issues. Many social programs patched over systematic problems without fixing them, but some of those no longer work in a socially distant world. The closure of schools has left children at home where there aren’t free lunches or internet access. Groups like the Hispanic Center and the United Way of the Lehigh Valley are working together more to connect people to resources, Marrero added.

“I do see more discussions in the community on a regular basis on the need to improve the services to make sure people are OK. COVID has highlighted more of the issues we knew were there. There is a greater awareness,” she said.

Leaders of local organizations that serve low-income families and minority groups in the Lehigh Valley said they were not surprised by the findings. However, having a document that verifies their experiences is a boon and can help shift the conversation, they said.

“It’s nice to see it put together,” Marrero said. “We know what the challenges are, but we’re such a small organization, it’s a challenge to gather all that information and present it.”

Wealth and education

The inequity study found that while the region has grown more racially diverse over the last 50 years, white residents generally enjoy better access to housing, education and jobs. While some minority groups — such as Asians, who make up 3% of the Lehigh Valley’s population — have high access to opportunities in the region, others are left out, particularly the Hispanic population.

The analysis found 25% of Lehigh Valley Hispanics — who identify among different racial groups including white, Black and other — have low or very low access to opportunities; 38% had high or very high access to opportunities. Both rates were the worst among racial and ethnic groups.

By comparison, 70% of whites had high or very high access to opportunities, while 13% had low or very low access. The study found that 70% of the Black community also had high or very high access to opportunities, though fewer Blacks had very high access than whites. The study found 6% of Blacks had low or very low access to opportunity. Whites account for 82% of the Lehigh Valley’s population while Blacks make up 6%, according to the analysis.

Geographically, the only neighborhoods where most residents had low or very low access to opportunities were in the region’s three cities. Center City Allentown was the only area with neighborhoods where residents had very low access. Most residents in the region’s townships had high access to opportunities, the report found.

Bradley identified home ownership as a critical factor that influences people’s lives. Families that can afford to own their homes are better able to build wealth and can choose to live in areas with better-funded school systems. Wealth and better education give future generations a leg up.

Disparity often widens from that point. Students with poor educations are more likely to be unemployed and earn less over their lifetimes. Lower income limits where they work and live, continuing the cycle.

The study found 32% of white Lehigh Valley residents had a bachelor’s degree or higher, while just 8% failed to get their high school diploma. Meanwhile, nonwhites were more likely to have dropped out of high school (21%) than earned a four-year college degree or better (20%). The rates were more pronounced in the Hispanic community — just 12% received a four-year degree or better, while 26% never graduated high school.

Bradley said these problems have been exacerbated by decades-old decisions by banks and federal agencies. For example, redlining policies that limited or barred loans and home sales to minority groups in the 1940s and ’50s set back nonwhite residents, giving whites a generational head start.

Bradley pointed to the redevelopment of Easton in the 1960s as a blatant example. The federal government allowed the city to use eminent domain to destroy a thriving immigrant neighborhood in the city’s downtown, destabilizing a growing Lebanese community.

The only measure where minorities were not at a disadvantage was access to the internet. The study found 13% of whites and 15% of nonwhites did not have internet access. Income tended to be the determining factor of whether families could access the internet, the study found.

Putting the study to use

Multiple leaders of Lehigh Valley nonprofits that assist those in poverty or minority groups praised the study for highlighting the problems.

“They are confirming in very, very clear numbers what we have been saying for years and what we as Americans know prevents us from claiming the moral high ground on issues related to justice,” said Alan Jennings, executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley. The organization offers several services and programs aimed at low-income families, and minorities have been a disproportionately larger group of its clients compared with the overall population.

Jennings said that while past generations of minorities ran into policy problems that blocked their efforts to buy homes, banks he’s worked with are eager to lend to them. Instead, the problem has been their incomes are too low to make loans feasible. He pinned the problem on educational failures.

A 2009 study of Lehigh Valley public schools by the Lehigh Valley Research Consortium examined which students were taking the SAT. The report found just 8% of the region’s Hispanic students in urban areas and 4% of Lehigh Valley Black students in urban areas took the SAT. By comparison, 79% of Lehigh Valley suburban whites took the test.

“They [minorities] are expected to play by a different set of rules that can limit people’s shot at making it work,” Jennings said.

Morning Call reporter Tom Shortell can be reached at 610-820-6168 or tshortell@mcall.com.