“On the East Side of Buffalo, you have some of the worst health outcomes in the United States of America,” said Pastor George Nicholas, chairperson of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.

----------------------------------------------------------------

The East Side of Buffalo is a predominantly Black neighborhood due to the Redlining that took place in Buffalo in the 1930s. The residents living on the East Side struggle with food insecurities, poor living conditions and poverty. 

"I definitely know that she wouldn't want me to be consumed by sadness and anger," Talley said of his mother, speaking outside of the store as the anniversary approached, "so I will definitely try to find strength in her memory and use it to fight injustice and racism for the rest of my life in her name."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Geraldine Talley's son speaks of his mother in the above quote. Geraldine Talley was a victim of the Tops shooting massacre in 2022 that took place at a Tops in the East Side of Buffalo. The motive for the shooting was "Anti-Black racism." This event deeply impacted the Buffalo community, especially those living on the East side who lost their neighbors, families and friends. 

“That’s why I don’t call this a food desert,” Wright said. “I call it food apartheid. You have to use that word because it was racism through and through.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

Alex Wright founded a Co-Op on the East Side of Buffalo after the Tops Shooting Massacre in 2022. Access to fresh produce remained a problem on the East Side months after the shooting, as the Tops was the only grocery stone on the East Side of Buffalo. The East Side is plagued by food insecurity due to the Redlining that occurred in the 1930s. Wright is referring to the East Side of Buffalo being a food apartheid, not a food desert, in the quote above. 

“People are breathing in more air pollution, they’re more likely to suffer from asthma. The housing conditions are worse, there’s a lot more lead paint, so the kids are more likely to have lead poisoning,” Magavern said. “The overall pattern still holds very true that east of Main Street is where about 80 percent of African Americans live in the city still today.”

-----------------------------------------------------

People of color are segregated into urban areas in the cities of Buffalo, while Caucasians live in the Suburbs. The people living in the East Side are exposed to more detrimental housing conditions and environmental factors that poorly affect their health. Again, this is due to the Redlining that took place in Buffalo during the 1930s.