It's a safe bet that if a bureaucrat or left-wing academic proposes something having to do with "equity" of any kind, it's likely a miserable plan inspired by progressive angst and Marxist ideology.
But sometimes—okay, maybe literally just this one time—it can actually be sort of, kind of, compelling:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday launched a $1 billion first-of-its-kind pilot program aimed at helping reconnect cities and neighborhoods racially segregated or divided by road projects, pledging wide-ranging help to dozens of communities despite the program's limited dollars.
Okay, wait, before you leave the room:
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Consider the setup here:
Under the Reconnecting Communities program, cities and states can now apply for the federal aid over five years to rectify harm caused by roadways that were built primarily through lower-income, Black communities after the 1950s creation of the interstate highway system.
That is certainly an historically accurate summation of what happened in the 1950s: A large number of poorer nonwhite urban communities were cleaved in two in order to make way for the interstate system. That's not surprising: The federal government is uniquely good at wrecking things, which is what they did to a whole lot of neighborhoods.
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It's a fair question as to whether that sort of thing can be "rectified" after more than half a century. But Mayor Pete's proposal doesn't sound like the craziest set of ideas:
New projects could include rapid bus transit lines to link disadvantaged neighborhoods to jobs; caps built on top of highways featuring green spaces, bike lanes and pedestrian walkways to allow for safe crossings over the roadways; repurposing former rail lines; and partial removal of highways.
Hmm.
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I'm not sure about the "partial removal of highways"—let's not ruin a good thing, guys—but the rest of those proposals don't sound truly awful. Some additional public transport? Urban beautification? More pedestrian-friendly infrastructure? Something to do with "former rail lines?" I don't hate all of those things.
Moreover, these sorts of projects would surely benefit everyone—the entire city, not just a single neighborhood, and moreover most of those neighborhoods are very much racially integrated at this point,. To call it a "racial equity" project is to ignore that it will likely benefit many people of many races—that's a good thing.
And I mean, look, they're asking for, what, just $1 billion? A billion bucks is nothing by federal government standards. And yet it could very well get a decent bit done if it's used right (a big if, to be sure). Heck, they built the Empire State Building for what today would be about $500,000,000—fully half of Buttigieg's budget request. Surely they could put a few "green spaces" atop some urban blight for that price tag.
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Of course, there are caveats. Could ol' Mayor Pete and the federal government still somehow royally screw this up? Yes. Could the whole thing go absurdly over-budget? Yes. Could the project turn into a miserable cesspool of graft, kickbacks and profligacy? Of course.
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Still, on paper this doesn't look like a terrible idea. On paper.
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