Photo by kaleb tapp on Unsplash
The interstate system brought America together and sealed our dependence on cars. It provided says to traverse the continental-sized country, bringing easy transportation of good, reducing costs, providing prosperity, and spreading manufacturing across the nation.
Putting in the system required land, lots of it, near population centers. The obvious choice leveraging eminent domain in acquiring the needed land was to use it to remove the less desirable areas, the run-down, the poorer sections whose voices could be ignored.
Those struggling on the edge were pushed off. Solid working communities were divided by a road system connecting the prosperous. Black, indigenous, and immigrant populations were disportionally impacted.
Was it really necessary to build America the infrastructure to help businesses and their owners on the ill-fortune of the working class and blacks yet again?
Check out the opinion blog on ACLU for more details. It is eye-opening.
Racism by Design: The Building of Interstate 81 by Jay A. Fernadez (August 10, 2023): https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/racism-by-design-the-building-of-interstate-81