Posted on 11/08/2021 9:45:53 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Not for the first time, Pete Buttigieg is vowing to do something about America's "racist" interstate highway system. As absurdly silly as it might be for the Biden-tapped US Transportation Secretary to be prioritizing tackling supposedly racist roads, it was perhaps the question itself from a reporter that reached new asinine depths - made all the more laughable given the "seriousness" of the lengthy exchange related to last week's bipartisan infrastructure bill which passed through Congress.
This was a real question by CNN (who else?) White House correspondent April Ryan during a Monday press briefing... amid Biden admin plans to "deconstruct the racism" built into America's infrastructure, she asked: can you give us the construct of how you will deconstruct the racism that was built into roadways?"
Reporter @AprilDRyan to @PeteButtigieg: “Can you give us the construct of how you will deconstruct the racism that was built into the roadways? ... Can you talk to us about how that could be deconstructed?” pic.twitter.com/FXXEq5tuQL — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 8, 2021
Buttigieg responded: "I’m still surprised that had some people were surprised when I pointed to the fact that if a highway was built for the purpose of dividing a White and a Black neighborhood or if an underpass was constructed such that a bus carrying mostly Black and Puerto Rican kids to a beach, or that would have been, in New York was designed too low for it to pass by..."
He argued that this makes it "obvious" that "racism" was built into the road system: "...that that obviously reflects racism that went into those design choices," he said. "We have everything to gain by acknowledging" these "racist" choices, he explained. The reference was to an April interview wherein Buttigieg claimed:
"...there is racism physically built into some of our highways."
At this point CNN's Ryan pressed him on potential efforts to actually "reconstruct communities that this happened to..." She said these roads were "meant to be racist." She seemed to define this as basically any and all beltways and roadways erected prior to the Civil Rights Act.
Meanwhile, an actual Bloomberg headline: US Will Use Infrastructure Bill to Address Racist Highway Design...
Pete Buttigieg says the U.S. will use about $1 billion from Biden's infrastructure bill to remedy racial inequities in U.S. highway design https://t.co/nTHt7e9OoW — Bloomberg (@business) November 8, 2021
"Please make our roads thinner and less racist"
This is where our media is today. https://t.co/7T8Hya03Dj — Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 8, 2021
That's when Buttigieg actually seemed to agree that some overpasses and roadway infrastructure "might have to come down" - as in some of the "racist" roadwork will get demolished...
"Sometimes it really is the case that an overpass went in a certain way that is so harmful that it's gotta come down or maybe be put underground," the Transportation Secretary said.
As with prior statements from Buttigieg which present America's vast network of highways as 'systematically racist' - immediate and widespread mockery followed the Monday afternoon exchange.
The roads are racist.
We must get rid of roads. https://t.co/nde3mJHn37 — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 8, 2021
For example, Texas Senator Ted Cruz wrote in response to the exchange, which it should be noted went on for nearly three minutes: "The roads are racist. We must get rid of roads."
“ Interstates destroying neighborhoods is a real thing…”
Although a lot of that was to put roads through areas of cheaper property to keep costs down. There are also lots of cases of farmers having their acreage split, or having access cut off because all the local roads got dead-ended at the interstate.
Pete doesn’t want clear the log jam in Longbeach. He wants to create all-new problems.
Plus, most roads are bisexual; they go either way.
The only reason that Peter the Butt Buttigieg doesn’t go after “black top” as “racist” is because it has the word “ass” in it. Am I bad or what? Do I give a crap? No!
Imagine reducing access to freeways from frontage roads to and from small towns, massive resultant reductions in property values suburban, commercial and agricultural and functional reduction of related enterprise. Rural existence could be made very difficult and of no consequence to B. who thinks racism is applicable to roads and everything else too.
There could be no worldwide shortage of buyers for US rural property at bargain basement prices a few years from now. Pay or play reestablishment of connectivity to major roadways could become the game to play as it is played ubiquitously now and for decades past.
“Poo Of Color”
You’ll never flush the same way, again.
How about we rebuild the highways for Peoples of Color and let the Peoples of Non Color fly around in aerosleds.
Racist Roads - Sounds like the subject of a family guy cutaway
Wait till Kamala finds out acorns from white oaks are somewhat edible, while ones from red oaks and black oaks are bitter.
dissapearing seem popular these days....hint hint...
Actually goes back to FDR, IIRC
Highways were built on the cheapest right of way possible.
They were looking at dead presidents, not people of color.
In America 2.0, even the roads are racist.
Black trees matter.
This country get dumped in the twilight zone?
Everything is racist.
Red apple trees next. Red mocks the Indians.
Can’t have Red Skin football team.
Endless stupidity.
If you look around downtowns you will often see plenty of vacant lots. There were once houses on many of those lots. The houses were torn down because it was cheaper to tear them down than to bring them up to code.
In Washington, DC, the Golden Triangle office district was once a mainly black slum. The area went from cheap white housing to cheap black housing to parking lots to office buildings.
Actually goes back beyond FDR. But Ike signed the major legislation that enabled it. Plenty of other stuff to blame LBJ for.
This is an administration of lunatics.
In the past rich neighborhoods were often built on hills.
This was because rich landowners built their mansions on hills so they could better see that the help was working. When it became necessary to subdivide the land due to increased taxes, house builders chose to build expensive new houses near the nice old mansion.
By about 1875 rich neighborhoods started getting built pretty far from the city center. This was because the land was cheaper and there were no nuisances nearby.
In Seattle, they had no choice but run run I-5 through an affluent neighborhood.
There is a book called “The Changing Metropolis” that mentions how 19th Century railways were run through slums to get closer into central London. These English slums had white people living in them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.