An Oral History of African American Seniors Seeking Hurricane Recovery and Climate Justice in the Gulf Coast

Abstract

On the Gulf Coast of Texas, a large disparity exists between the number of homes still in need of repair after Hurricane Harvey and the number of homes actually repaired by the City of Houston in previously segregated neighborhoods. Seven years after the storm, the authors conducted oral history research through the lens of environmental justice with a focus on the most vulnerable homes in neighborhoods facing displacement, with senior owners struggling to age in place. This article presents the findings from one oral history data set representative of reoccurring themes in qualitative and quantitative research. The data reveal that residential ecological knowledge and citizen participation have been ignored over extended periods of time, exacerbating storm damage, displacement, and environmental policy failures.