Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested in a recent interview that racism is built into the country’s highway system.
“There is racism physically built into some of our highways, and that’s why the jobs plan has specifically committed to reconnect some of the communities that were divided by these dollars,” the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor told reporter April Ryan this week in an interview discussing President Joe Biden’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
Buttigieg explained that several major highways in the United States negatively affect minority communities.
“Well, if you’re in Washington, I’m told that the history of that highway is one that was built at the expense of communities of color in the D.C. area,” he said. “There are stories, and I think Philadelphia and Pittsburgh [and] in New York, Robert Moses famously saw through the construction of a lot of highways.”
Buttigieg added that there has been a lack of federal infrastructure projects in black communities throughout history and said it “wasn’t just an act of neglect” but rather a “conscious choice” that the Biden administration hopes to rectify in the new spending package.
Biden touted his plan on Wednesday, saying, “We don’t just fix for today. We build for tomorrow.”
“Two hundred years ago, trains weren’t traditional infrastructure either until America made a choice to lay down tracks across the country,” he added. “Highways weren’t traditional infrastructure until we allowed ourselves to imagine that roads could connect our nation across state lines.”
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Biden’s plan, which he says will be paid for by raising taxes on corporations, has been criticized by Republicans who argue the package is full of wasteful spending.
“The latest liberal wish list the White House has decided to label ‘infrastructure’ is a major missed opportunity by this administration,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “This plan is not about rebuilding America’s backbone,” the Kentucky senator said. “Less than 6% of this massive proposal goes to roads and bridges.”
