The Los Angeles Times, citing a study from researchers at the University of Southern California, claimed that people of color in the city had been damaged by white people because white people drove more.
The USC study, titled, “Local Inequities in the Relative Production of and Exposure to Vehicular Air Pollution in Los Angeles,” stated in its abstract that a “growing knowledge of racial injustice in exposure levels” existed in Los Angeles County, and that “tracts whose residents drive less are exposed to more air pollution, as are tracts with a less-White population.” The study blamed “decades of racially-motivated freeway infrastructure planning and residential segregation.”
“White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color,” The LA Times trumpeted.
White drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of colorhttps://t.co/1cBp2TTay6
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 9, 2023
The study invoked “environmental justice,” writing, “The political and planning decisions behind transport infrastructure placement impact environmental justice today through vehicular air pollution,” “Decades of racist planning decisions in Los Angeles have contributed to today’s injustices in transport, health, and environmental quality,” and “non-White and poor communities are disproportionately burdened with excess pollution.”
One of the solutions proposed by the authors of the study suggested invasive measures toward presumably white, wealthier neighborhoods, as they wrote, “legalizing the construction of denser and more affordable housing in less-polluted, exclusive neighborhoods could reduce exposure disparities.”
The Los Angeles Times contributor wrote guiltily, “I couldn’t help but consider my own complicity” after reading the study, then saluted the study’s perspective, adding, “It may sound like a paradox, but it’s not. It’s a function of the racism that shaped this city and its suburbs, and continues to influence our daily lives — and a stark reminder of the need for climate solutions that benefit everyone.”
“I’ve benefited from the region’s sordid history as well,” he opined.
Many of the wealthier white residents of Los Angeles live near the coast, where the air is cleaner, rather than inland, where the smog is trapped in the Los Angeles area.
Twitter ‘s “Community Notes” initially was seen rating the Times’ claim as false, writing, “This claim is false. This assumption is based on research that those who drive more tend to be exposed to less air pollution while those who drive less tend to be exposed to more pollution. L.A. population is 48.4% Hispanic/Latino, 28.1% White only (not Hispanic).”
Twitter is calling you “fake news,” @latimes pic.twitter.com/HXLoS0bd3V
— Beatrice Cardenas (@RealBetyCardens) March 10, 2023
The Times was bashed for their tweet:
This has become like old timey, nonsensical racism at this point…
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) March 9, 2023
Just here for the ratio, you race baiting simpletons.
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) March 9, 2023
If *Finding Racism Everywhere* was an Olympic sport, this LA Times article would be heavily favored to win the gold medal 🏅 pic.twitter.com/bqIsuB70WE
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) March 9, 2023
Congratulations to the author of this piece @Sammy_Roth. You have managed to write not only the most idiotic but racist piece of 2023!
— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) March 9, 2023