The purpose of this research project is to explore the history of highways and their implementation as a new avenue for segregation, beginning with its primary origins in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. I examine the rhetoric used as justification for the decision on where these highways were constructed, primarily the usage of “slum removal” as the language deployed by planners. Further, I highlight the lasting effects of highways as it has contributed to a cycle of poverty which persists today, and its usage as an alternative form of segregation. I review the data behind the repercussions this has had on the population of Black communities. Finally, I end by surveying the efforts made to reconcile the lasting effects of the highway system, and consider the obstacles which stand in the way of this endeavor.
Historically, African-American communities have been subjected to various forms of segregation through the implementation of public policy. The legacy of racial division exists from the infamous Jim Crow laws of the Southern United States, to the discriminatory financial practice of redlining. However, along with a variety of factors and aforementioned strategies, the highway system has been utilized as a tool to segregate and isolate African-American communities (Nall & O’Keefe, 2018). This led to a legacy of racial divide throughout the United States, resulting in the persistence of troubling economic issues through Black America and the cycle of poverty common for many. Beginning with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, highways were used as an alternative method of segregation. Operating under the guise of economic development, these neighborhoods would be labeled as “slums” and cleared out, displacing hundreds of thousands.