Landscapes of Exclusion: Mapping Racial Boundaries and Environmental Burdens
Faculty Mentor
Brian Buchanan, Stacy Warren
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-14-2026 2:00 PM
End Date
4-14-2026 4:00 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Anthropology
Abstract
Inspired by ongoing work with the Eastern Washington University Racial Covenants Project, which is using GIS to map every property in Eastern Washington, this project adds additional spatial layers to reveal the enduring imprint of historic racial exclusion on Spokane’s present‑day landscape. Like many U.S. cities, Spokane bears the marks of restrictive covenants and redlining, systems that shaped where people could live and how neighborhoods developed. By integrating digitized property records, historic zoning maps, HOLC grades, and contemporary environmental burden datasets, this analysis shows that historically excluded neighborhoods are disproportionately located near brownfield and Superfund sites. These communities also face limited access to green infrastructure, higher exposure to air pollutants, and persistent barriers to securing environmental cleanup and investment. The findings underscore the need for reparative planning and targeted remediation that centers historical accountability. More broadly, this work contributes to cultural resource management and environmental anthropology by demonstrating how historical documentation and ecological data can be combined to inform policy and strengthen public engagement.
Recommended Citation
Baxter, Monique, "Landscapes of Exclusion: Mapping Racial Boundaries and Environmental Burdens" (2026). 2026 Symposium. 9.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2026/ps_2026/p3_2026/9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Landscapes of Exclusion: Mapping Racial Boundaries and Environmental Burdens
PUB NCR
Inspired by ongoing work with the Eastern Washington University Racial Covenants Project, which is using GIS to map every property in Eastern Washington, this project adds additional spatial layers to reveal the enduring imprint of historic racial exclusion on Spokane’s present‑day landscape. Like many U.S. cities, Spokane bears the marks of restrictive covenants and redlining, systems that shaped where people could live and how neighborhoods developed. By integrating digitized property records, historic zoning maps, HOLC grades, and contemporary environmental burden datasets, this analysis shows that historically excluded neighborhoods are disproportionately located near brownfield and Superfund sites. These communities also face limited access to green infrastructure, higher exposure to air pollutants, and persistent barriers to securing environmental cleanup and investment. The findings underscore the need for reparative planning and targeted remediation that centers historical accountability. More broadly, this work contributes to cultural resource management and environmental anthropology by demonstrating how historical documentation and ecological data can be combined to inform policy and strengthen public engagement.
