Legislating Action: Exploring the Antagonistic Relationship of Highways in Black Communities and Neighborhoods

• In Event: Spatial and Structural Racism in the US

Abstract

Protest is a tool used to influence policy and law, that often stands synonymously with rights of free-speech and assembly. Often perceived as destructive, or civil disobedience, protests are actions of contention that spark constant discourse. The analysis of each respective occurrence, however, differs with an individual’s stance on an issue, and more importantly the race of the actors. Highways and interstates are more than just convenient ways to travel from place-to-place, they are symbols of freedom and American connectedness. Unfortunately, Black people all over the United States are forced to operate parallel to this notion, as these ideas of freedom and connectedness have historically excluded them. If there is anything that Black people in the US know for sure, it is that highways have not only been a consistent cause of community and neighborhood destruction, uprooted families, and segregation, but also, an important part in the structural nature of white hegemony. Highways (also referred to as interstates) have been increasingly utilized as a tool for oppression and destruction, in both de jure and de facto interpretations of inequality. Blackness, therefore, remains in constant angst due to actions of the majority. Government administrations, city councils, housing associations, banks, and politicians alike, are all interconnected in the segregation and destruction of Black communities with the development of highways. This [paper] a continuation of a larger project regarding protest, free speech, and law enforcement, seeks to uncover some of the historical challenges Black communities have faced with highways and interstates.

Author

• Marshall Allen, Indiana University-Bloomington