Contaminated Spaces: A Critical Policy Analysis of Historical School Siting Policy and Environmental Racism in Detroit and Houston

We conduct a critical policy analysis of environmental and educational policies that enabled the siting of two schools in Detroit, Michigan, and Houston, Texas near some of the highest-emitting pollution sources in the country. Through qualitative analysis of 163 news media reports on the processes, implementation, and consequences of school siting decisions in Detroit and Houston, we uncover strategies of institutional denial, the naturalization of racism and superficial community involvement that school district and industry officials used to deny, normalize, and circumvent community concerns about the environmental health risks associated with siting schools near dangerous sources of pollution. Our study reveals how the absence of school siting policies renders communities of color contaminated spaces and emphasizes the importance of policy and research that dismantles unequal geographies of opportunity by evaluating policies that lie at the nexus of education and the environment.