Faculty experts inform national conversation on racial segregation in aftermath of tragic shooting

Published May 23, 2022

The School of Architecture and Planning grieves with the community after the abhorrent anti-Black racist shooting in Buffalo on May 14. We will continue to come together in support of those most affected by the tragedy - the families of the victims, the community members who live in the surrounding neighborhood and all those traumatized by this racist act of hate.

The event has underscored a new rise in violent culture of white supremacy in our nation that threatens the safety and health of Black citizens and our communities overall. It has also placed a national spotlight on the history of place-based racism that has created conditions of segregation, exclusion and disinvestment across East Buffalo - the very conditions that the shooter targeted in his act of hate.

In addition to directly working with community members to provide support in the aftermath of the shooting, several faculty members of the School of Architecture and Planning have been called upon by national media to shed light on existing conditions across East Buffalo and inform wider debate about enduring systemic racism in our urban context.

Understanding Buffalo's East Side

UB's Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab has released an East Buffalo Food and Health Equity dashboard to help shed light on conditions in East Buffalo. The portal contains information on Black health, Black-led organizations working to fight food apartheid, and general data on Black neighborhoods

A 2021 Center for Urban Studies report on inequality in Buffalo over the past three decades is receiving renewed attention following the May 14 mass shooting. The study focuses on conditions impacting Black residents, and explains how discriminatory policymaking fueled decades of underdevelopment in predominantly Black neighborhoods.

Faculty experts

Faculty at the School of Architecture and Planning have weighed in on issues of racial justice related to urban development and patterns of racial segregation, housing, and food justice. Meet our faculty experts

View UB's response to the mass shooting, including coverage, statements from leadership, and resources and opportunities to support the community.

Op-ed: East Buffalo Needs Community-Driven Structural Investments, Not Fly-In, Fly-Out Charity
5/24/22
An op-ed piece written by a group of food equity scholars from varied institutions affiliated with the UB Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab critiques the deficit-based view of East Buffalo that overlooks the work of Black individuals & organizations that have been strengthening the food system for decades.
What We Get Wrong About Food Insecurity in Places Like Buffalo’s East Side
5/19/22
An article on Slate.com about the shooting interviews Samina Raja of UB's Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab about how community members are dealing with food insecurity in the wake of the tragedy, and how histories of racial segregation have contributed to conditions of food apartheid in East Buffalo.
Tops is more than a Buffalo supermarket
5/16/22
An NPR article examines the history around the Tops market on Buffalo's East Side, which residents fought for years to get built, and how its closing after the shooting is affecting residents of the neighbhorood. The article interviews Samina Raja as well as community members on efforts in the community to address food insecurity.
"Nobody cares about us here": Anguish and Anger on Buffalo's East Side
5/18/22
An article in The New York Times interviewing residents about the discrimination they have experienced over many years cites a report by the Center for Urban Studies showing the health, housing, income and education outcomes for Black people in Buffalo have not improved over 30 years.
The Buffalo shooting was centuries in the making, experts say
5/18/22
An article on NBC News that examines the shooting in Buffalo in context of the nation's violent history of racial terror cites a 2021 report by UB's Center for Urban Studies documenting the lack of progress on health, housing, income and education conditions for Black people in Buffalo over the past 30 years.
Before the shooting, Buffalo’s East Side long faced racism and discrimination
5/16/22
An article in the Los Angeles Times looks at the history of racial segregation on Buffalo's East Side, and cites the Center for Urban Studies' 2021 report on Black Buffalo and interviews Henry-Louis Taylor on the forces that continue to isolate Blacks and people of color from economic opportunities within the region.
Buffalo shooting affects residents at heart of community hub, 'segregated by design'
5/18/22
An article on MSN on the impact of the shooting on food security on Buffalo's East Side interviews Samina Raja of UB's Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab, who refers to data showing the dearth of supermarkets in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Buffalo. Raja, who is part of the Buffalo Food Equity Network, a caucus space for communities of color who respond to food-related needs in the neighborhood, also points to the work of neighborhood residents and businesses to bolster the food system in the absence of market investment, from advocacy efforts 10 years ago to bring Tops to the neighborhood, to recent urban farming and food distribution efforts led by citizens. The article also cites the 2021 Center for Urban Studies report on socioeconomic conditions for Black residents of Buffalo.

Related resources

The School of Architecture and Planning continues to push forward on its work with community members to advance equitable development and investment on Buffalo's East Side:

Faculty experts inform national conversation on racial segregation in aftermath of tragic shooting

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