Long Island Quality of Life Survey results reflect the different experience of persons of color on LI, experts say

Black and Latino residents feel gloomier about reaching certain livability standards on Long Island than white residents, according to a Newsday/Siena Research Institute survey, and those stark differences reflect disparities experienced by many residents of color, experts said.

"We find despite optimism and faith in the educational system, Black and Latino residents face more challenges and in some cases, discrimination compared with their white neighbors," said pollster Don Levy, director of the Siena Research Institute.

For example, 66% of Black and 68% of Latino respondents agree that minorities in their communities are likely to experience racial or ethnic discrimination. Meanwhile only 40% of white respondents believe those communities experience discrimination. A majority of Black and Latino respondents also feel government is not responsive to their needs.

Experts on communities of color said unequal treatment and access to services and opportunities is linked to systemic racism rooted in the nation’s complicated past. Even as Long Island itself has grown more diverse, some say racial segregation has gotten worse.

According to a 2023 report by the nonprofit ERASE Racism, the Island is among the nation’s Top 10 most racially segregated regions. The group also reported that segregated school districts have a faster-growing number of students with needs but received less funding than predominantly white school districts.

"A lot of these inequities stem from segregation and the resources that different communities receive," said Dafny Irizarry, the founder and president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association.

Others said they fear federal executive orders to restore "truth and sanity to American History" will only sanitize the country's history and widen racial inequities. President Donald Trump recently said on social media that the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., was "out of control, where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been. Nothing about success, nothing about brightness, nothing about the Future."

Elaine Gross, founder and president of the Syosset-based civil rights group ERASE Racism, said the administration is engaged in "an aggressive action to wipe out even people saying that there is something called structural racism," which she said is "embedded into our society."

She said one doesn’t need to look too deep to find evidence of unjust government policies that were once the norm, such as government housing policies from the 1930s that kept Black people from getting mortgages and loans, blocked them from buying in certain neighborhoods, and kept investments away from neighborhoods with predominantly Black residents.

At the time, the federal government also recommended racist covenants, according to the Federal Reserve History. In 1947, for example, developer William Levitt implemented a white-only doctrine in Levittown that barred people of color from occupying properties.

Housing disparity continues to be a problem. In 2019, Newsday published The Long Island Divided series which found evidence that real estate agents violated fair housing laws by treating homebuyers of color unfairly. The Department of State penalized 15 of the 36 agents Newsday named.

The result is divided communities, schools and wealth disparities. 

Tracey Edwards, Long Island regional director of the NAACP, said equal opportunities are created when access to capital and resources is the same for everyone.

"Surveys and research confirm what we already know: historic disinvestment, employment disparities, and unequal access to homeownership continue to perpetuate financial gaps. Advancing economic equity is essential to achieving true racial equity for Black and Latino families," Edwards said in an email. 

The survey shows people of color also feel less optimistic about job opportunities.

Only 38% of Blacks and 33% of Hispanics are confident about the ability to obtain suitable employment, compared with 55% of whites. A significant number of Black and Latino respondents said they believe they are less likely than their white counterparts to land positions for which they are equally qualified. Blacks and Latinos were also more pessimistic about job advancements while nearly half of whites surveyed were hopeful about advancement.

Bonnie Michelle Cannon, executive director of the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center, who works to provide resources such as food pantries, workforce development programs, wellness talks and health mobility units, said she sees qualified college graduates struggling to find jobs and believes race plays a factor.

"I have college kids that have went off to college, have a degree and they can't find a job anywhere," Cannon said. "There are issues that have been lingering for many years, and it has to do with racism and classism. We're going to get to the point where we have got to address it and stop closing our eyes to it, and do something."

According to the survey, Black and Latino respondents are also less optimistic than white respondents about the availability of health care and the ability to age in place.

In an analysis, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli found that 3% of white New Yorkers did not have health insurance in 2021, compared with 10% of Hispanic and 6% of Black and Asian New Yorkers.

"A lot of times those health services might be better available to people with certain kinds of insurance, with certain kinds of employment, and also with immigration status. I'm sure that someone with an undocumented status is less eager to go and seek help when it comes to health care," Irizarry said. 

Black and Latino residents were also less confident that police are keeping residents safe. And while over half of Black and Latino residents polled are optimistic about quality of life on Long Island, the percentage of whites satisfied was roughly 20 percentage points higher.

Accessing affordable high-quality fruits and vegetables also is more problematic for Black and Latino respondents, with 47% and 46% of Black and Latino respondents rating access as fair or poor compared with 24% of white respondents finding it as such. 

Pilar Moya-Mancera, executive director of Housing Help in Greenlawn, said she sees the disparity experienced by people of color and demands urgent action.

"The Siena College poll confirms what we witness every day: Latino and Black families on Long Island face disproportionate struggles with housing, health care, and opportunity," Moya-Mancera said in a statement.

While only 14% of white respondents and 16% of Latino respondents were confident about the availability of affordable housing, that perception dropped to 6% for Black respondents.