Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins, is Vice President of Strategies for Communities First, a non-profit that works to build more just, equitable, and climate-resilient communities.
As a Black person in America, it feels like any pursuit of the American Dream can quickly become a nightmare that you may never wake up from, as was the case for Breonna Taylor. Whether you’re driving — as Tyre Nichols was before he was killed by police in Memphis a few weeks ago — or taking the train — as Oscar Grant III was when police shot him at the Fruitvale BART Station — or walking home — as Elijah McClain was when police fatally restrained him in Aurora, Colorado, there seems to be no safe way to move as Black people in America.
Our transportation infrastructure has had an inordinate impact on communities of color. Highways built through thriving Black neighborhoods and low-wealth areas have displaced more than a million Americans, demolished economic activity, worsened air quality, and separated neighbors from one another and the hearts of their cities.
However, the U.S. has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address at least some of these injustices. Thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the recovery funds from the COVID stimulus package, state and local leaders now have access to billions of dollars to radically improve their transportation systems.
Investing that much money will have massive consequences for decades to come. Indeed, the choices we make now could determine how we get around for at least the next half-century. We could take a major step forward in addressing the historical harms against people of color. But if we aren’t careful, we could end up entrenching them even further.
To see how this might happen, look no further than the last time we invested this much in transportation. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 established our national interstate system and is held up, along with the moon landing, as a symbol of federal ambition and innovation. That’s true, but it’s not the entire story. Tragically, the Highway Act embedded segregation and injustice into our transportation system for the next 50 years.
The highway system, intended to connect our nation and create economic opportunity, was weaponized by elected officials at every level to divide communities in the U.S. by race and class. Some of these decisions were expressions of the racism ingrained in our society at the time — a systemic bias to build on the cheapest land, to target the least politically influential communities, or to see Black neighborhoods as “slums” in need of clearing. Frequently, though, they were active expressions of personal racism. For example, Alabama’s state highway director, an avowed segregationist, built a highway through a neighborhood of Montgomery where many civil rights leaders lived rather than through nearby vacant land. Other highways were placed to reinforce racial segregation, undercutting recent Supreme Court decisions that over turned racist zoning laws.
We are still living with the consequences of those decisions today. Highway-enabled “white flight” established a system whereby suburbanites enjoy the benefits of nearby cities without contributing much to their tax bases. Polluted Black neighborhoods continue to experience higher rates of asthma and other illnesses. And racial tensions continue to ripple through our divided cities.
Even today, some communities hope to use this new windfall of public funding to further fortify our broken system. For instance, the Texas Department of Transportation wants to spend $9.7 billion to widen the lanes of highways that already divide the neighborhoods around downtown Houston along racial lines.
It would be a tragedy if a multibillion-dollar investment in public infrastructure only makes America more unequal and segregated. Fortunately, there are some signs that leaders will be more thoughtful in their decisions this time around. For example, before distributing any stimulus funds, the U.S. Department of Treasury required every state to document how it planned to implement an equitable COVID recovery. States like Kansas, Georgia, Iowa, and Colorado, in addition to the District of Columbia, have established agencies and processes to ensure that transportation resources and projects increase equity and take special consideration of underserved communities. And the Federal Highway Administration has released guidance encouraging states to prioritize projects that reconnect communities; address environmental impact; make streets more accessible; promote the safety of all road users; and include underrepresented groups in the planning, project selection, and design process.
Already, some projects are beginning to show what those priorities might look like in action. Washington, D.C.’s 11th Street Bridge Project will connect the long-separated, majority-Black Anacostia neighborhood with Capitol Hill. And Columbus, Ohio’s Long Street Bridge and Cultural Wall allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross a highway that has divided the King-Lincoln and Discovery Districts. And this doesn’t have to be a partisan issue. During the Trump administration, the Federal Highway Administration worked with states and other transportation leaders to publish a handbook for advancing community-oriented connections and pursuing projects that center those most impacted by the transportation system.
If we do this right, this will be a landmark moment not only for our transportation infrastructure but also for transformative justice — the idea of centering our decisions on repairing past harms. In this case, that might mean tearing down the highways that bisect our cities, investing in transit systems for those without cars, removing pollutants from our engines and interchanges, and building infrastructure in transportation deserts to ensure everyone has the ability to get wherever they want or need to go, whenever they need to.
But most importantly, it means listening to the voices of those who have been adversely impacted in the past. For too long, those voices have been ignored or actively silenced, and you can see the unequal result every time you hit the highway. We can — we must — do better this time.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Lyft. Lyft makes no representations as to the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this article, and unless otherwise stated, Lyft is not affiliated with any business or organization mentioned.