Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: 'Racially destructive' infrastructure choices were made
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tells Yahoo Finance Presents it's well beyond time to correct the racially inequities weaved into the fabric of the nation's infrastructure.
"So one of the problems with the racially destructive choices that were made in the past is that it's a lot harder to reverse when it's in the form of a big concrete highway. There are many places in the country where it's been shown that choices were made to run a highway right through the heart of what had been a thriving Black neighborhood, often dividing that neighborhood into or clearing it out entirely. And there's frankly, a lot of documentary evidence that often this wasn't just done out of convenience, sometimes it was done on purpose, and we have a chance to get it right," Buttigieg says.
Last week, President Biden unveiled his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. Coined the "American Jobs Plan," Biden's proposal aims to invest $621 billion into transportation infrastructure, including the repair of roads, bridges, transit and rail. More than $300 billion will be spent to replace lead water pipes and upgrade sewers, invest in broadband access in rural communities and improve the power grid. The rebuild is expected to create millions of good-paying jobs for America's working class, the administration contends.
But the plan also seeks to address the racial divide not just by building roads and highways, creating jobs and encouraging the use of more efficient public transport.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/transportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-racially-destructive-infrastructure-choices-were-made-181410214.html
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