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Impact of Poverty On African American Communities
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Brooke Kelly 2805946
Cleveland State University
UST 202: Cleveland the African American Experience
Dr. Michael Paquet
November 29, 2022
Impact of Poverty On African American Communities
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The United States defines poverty as the state of having few material possessions or little
income. The African American population in Cleveland, OH reached 49.8% this past year
(2022). According to the Cleveland Office of Minority Health Staff, “The rate of these African
Americans living in poverty in Cleveland is 42%. What was found was that the East side of
Cleveland experiences the greatest number of African Americans in poverty.” Back in the day,
the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) opened opportunities for homeownership when they
made two changes. They reduced the amount of money necessary for a down payment on a home
and created 30- year mortgages. The FHA created a handbook that instructed banks on the
security of making loans in Cleveland. This handbook had maps which color coded
neighborhoods and sections of the city that were “safe” or “unsafe” for giving a loan. “Areas that
were populated by people of color were almost always designated with red and referred to as
‘redlined’ areas. That meant that banks would not give loans to people in those areas, regardless
of the housing stock or their ability to repay the loan” (Halko, M. 2015). This system was unfair
to those people of color, it kept them from being able to build wealth and live in developing
neighborhoods. This forced African Americans to live in communities where they couldn’t build
any personal wealth, have access to resources, or access to the same opportunities as white
Europeans. The FHA made it harder for black families to move out of their ‘redlined’
neighborhoods and so the levels of poorness and carelessness in the neighborhoods just
continued to go downhill. This high amount of poverty within the Cleveland African American
community affects those folks in the ways of proper health care, education, and work force.
Poverty affects African Americans by not receiving, or able to obtain, proper health care.
Health care is a tricky thing, it can be very expensive if no insurance is available. Most people
Impact of Poverty On African American Communities
cannot afford insurance, let alone an emergency room bill. Did you know that if a person is to be
experiencing a medial emergency and calls an ambulance, it’ll automatically cost around $1200?
That is not a reasonable price that many people can afford. “Lack of insurance or being under-
insured has been found to be a risk factor for decreased access to high quality care, delays in
seeking care, and a low priority placed on preventive care,” (Cleveland Office of Minority
Health Staff, 2016). This means that many black families cannot afford health care. This is a
problem as it’s an unfair situation to those who are more financially stable and can afford health
care. East Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and Maple Heights are the areas in Cleveland suffering
from high poverty rates. These areas lack simple things like grocery stores to buy healthy foods
and many residents have safety concerns about their children being outside. This limits those
living in these areas to be able to be healthy. A big part of being healthy is being able to provide
