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Boulder Hazard Mitigation Plan Introduction disparity is only increased by the impacts of natural hazards. In Houston after Hurricane Harvey, reporting found that White, wealthier homeowners were provided with more resources for recovery than Black, poor families. This pattern holds true across the United States, whereby the wealthy, and the White get more federal aid after a disaster, while minorities and the poor, receive less (NPR 2019). The cycle of poverty increased by homeownership policies is also visible on Native American reservations, where the lack of addresses on homes that are legible to White bureaucracy has prevented distribution of aid for years. A series of flooding events on the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge reservation from 2015 forward showcased the haphazard approach that FEMA had in distributing aid to Native American Tribes, as assistance was distributed only in piecemeal fashion because of the burden of proof laid on homeowners for deeds to their homes and maintenance reports. In subsequent years, including 2019, no disaster declaration was granted to the Tribe even though major disaster declarations were given to neighboring states. This lack of bureaucratic recognition and stifling of aid distribution contributes to ongoing poverty and increased income disparities during recovery. Other ways in which income disparities are exacerbated and inhibit community recovery include lack of insurance for BIPOC and low-income communities. Data on damage estimates and disaster impact is created through insurance reporting. For underinsured communities, lack of reporting means lack of recognition in recovery resources and may result in exclusion from rebuilding and resilience efforts. Local Context The communities of Boulder County live with highly differentiated risk exposure due to the diverse influences of geography, culture, economic opportunity, and racial and social inequities. These different groups exhibit various capacities to respond to and recover from hazard impacts. Racial inequities in Boulder County are reflective of the history of Colorado as a whole, in that White majorities were created and maintained rather than happened naturally. Early disputes over Black voting rights in the 1860s sparked racial tensions, with Congress bypassing White voters in the territory to grant Black residents suffrage before admitting Colorado to the Union (Newsum 2017). In the early 1900s, the African American population in Denver created a thriving community known as the "Harlem of the West," but the power of the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan meant that the population was restricted within certain neighborhoods in Denver (Newsum 2017). If Black homeowners moved outside of the area, they were threatened with violence, including drive by bombings. Because of the racist restrictions on Black activities and incipient violence, eventually the thriving neighborhood of Five Points lost its entertainment venues and economic viability (Newsum 2017). The largest non-White group in Boulder County is the Latinx population, which makes up approximately 14% of the County residents (TRENDS 2019). There is a long history of Latinx residents in the area, as many arrived in the 1920s and 30s to farm sugarbeets and mine coal, coming north from Trinidad, Colorado to follow economic opportunity (McIntosh 2016). Throughout the 1900s the Ku Klux Klan tormented people of color in Boulder County, ensuring that Latinx populations only lived in certain areas in the eastern part of the County (TRENDS 2019). More subtly, environmental racism has a long history in Boulder County, where the myth of untouched, virgin open space has been used to romanticize the history of Native Americans in the area, and to restrict the availability of affordable housing (Hickcox 2007). This trend continues through 2020, as residents of the County are least willing to donate to causes that will benefit minorities, immigrants, and refugees (TRENDS 2019). The impacts of systemic racism can be seen in the chronic disparities between Whites and non -Whites in Boulder County. For the Latinx population, this means a higher occurrence of health issues such as diabetes, and child obesity compared to Whites as well as comprising 37% of COVID-19 cases and 48% of COVID-19 deaths (POS 2020); a 86% graduation rate after four years in high school compared to a 93% graduation rate for Whites in Boulder Valley School District (TRENDS 2019); and a median income level of $46,388 for Latinx vs $75,802 for Whites (POS 2020).