1

How Interstate Highways Affect Minority Communities

Joseph Martinez

Department of English, Florida State University

ENC 2135: Research, Genre, and Context

Professor George Bishop

December 1, 2022
 2

How Interstate Highways Affect Minority Communities

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act.

Eisenhower got his idea for a U.S. interstate system from his time overseas in Germany,

modeling our system after the Autobahn. He wanted a way to have cities be more interconnected

than ever. However, this came at a cost. Interstate highway construction resulted in the tearing

down of housing, primarily in minority neighborhoods. These multi-lane highways served as

physical boundaries between White, well-off communities and mostly Black, typically poor

communities. In some cases, the highways even created “inner city ghettos” (Ware, 2021). The

interstate system was successful in solving the issues present in America’s past road systems,

namely dirt roads and long travel times. However, it created issues in minority communities that

have been harmed since the country’s inception. According to The Los Angeles Times (2021),

almost 1 million people were forced out of their homes, with 200,000 losing their homes in the

last three decades alone. Throughout the development of these interstate highway systems,

minority groups have been harmed extensively.

 3

Figure 1

The Eisenhower Interstate System

Miami, Florida

In the case of historic neighborhood Overtown in Miami, Florida, White residents had

planned for decades to remove Black residents to “expand Miami’s central business district”

(Archer, 2020). They even went so far as to construct a new town entirely: Liberty Square, now

known as Liberty City. When President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, White

business leaders saw their opportunity to strike. As shown in Figure 1, Interstate 95 (I-95) is one

of the longest and most important pieces of the interstate system, spanning from Miami all the

way to the tip of Maine. According to The Washington Post, the I-95 and I-395 interchange was

originally intended to “bypass Overtown and use a nearby rail corridor,” but it was routed

directly through the neighborhood, with no input from the residents (Blakemore, 2021). I-95’s

construction in Overtown tore down “eighty-seven acres of housing and commercial property”

(Archer, 2020). Overtown went from a community of 40,000 prior to I-95’s construction to a
 4

mere 8,000 after it was built (Archer, 2020). Despite the displacement of roughly 30,000 people,

who were mostly Black, “very few housing units were built to replace demolished homes” and

those displaced “received very little assistance” (Archer, 2020).

The displacement of Black Americans in Overtown can be attributed to decades of hatred

by wealthy White residents in nearby areas. When the highway was completed, the displaced

residents were pushed to the edge of Miami, with a lot of them settling in Liberty Square, the

racially segregated neighborhood previously constructed for them. This mass influx of people

resulted in “aggressive overcrowding, further strained limited public services, and reinforced

racial segregation” (Archer, 2020). In addition to this, Black people were “regularly denied

access to well-paying jobs” (Archer, 2020). These people had to sell their homes so the

government could construct I-95, were pushed into dangerous, low-income areas, were robbed of

job offers, and forced into a cycle of poverty. Nowadays, people will make sure to say, “Steer

away from Liberty City!”

Furthermore, “the same people who devised and built the highway systems also defunded

existing infrastructure in the areas decimated by the highways” (Archer, 2020). Not only did the

government displace large groups of Black residents, they were forced into areas with

underfunded infrastructure. A lack of said infrastructure essentially isolated them in their own

communities. Without well-funded public transportation, these people often could not leave their

neighborhoods. Additionally, without well-funded utilities like water, these people were often

sick. And without well-funded healthcare in the area, these people often did not have adequate

access to care.
 5

New York City, New York

Figure 2

The Cross Bronx Expressway

Figure 3

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

 6

The Brooklyn Queens Expressway (I-278), shown in Figure 3, carried approximately

150,000 cars daily prior to the pandemic. Brian Pascus (2021), a writer for Crain’s New York

Business, a newspaper dedicated to business in the New York City area summarizes the words of

Eddie Bautista, executive director of The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, whom

he interviewed in this quote:

Construction of the highway involved messy choices that altered two communities.

Bautista pointed to the difference in how the BQE flows between Red Hook and

Brooklyn Heights. He noted that it bends through Red Hook, dividing the neighborhood

from Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, as it heads up toward Atlantic Avenue. But as it

approaches affluent Brooklyn Heights, "it loops," he said, away from the community and

runs along the water.

The Brooklyn Queens Expressway was deliberately rerouted around Brooklyn Heights, a

wealthy and predominantly White community while cutting straight through neighborhoods like

Red Hook, which boasts the “largest public housing development in Brooklyn” (Pascus 2021).

The expressway serves as a wall to separate this neighborhood from the rest. Also, Red Hook is

located in what is referred to as a “mass transit desert,” meaning they do not have adequate

access to nearby subway lines (Pascus 2021). Segregation era tactics such as redlining have left

minority groups unable to escape the neighborhoods they were forced into, often near interstate

highways.

There have been recent calls to demolish the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and replace it

with a light rail system, effectively tearing down the dividing wall between these neighborhoods.

In some places, such as Rochester, New York, plans to tear down highways have been realized.

According to The New York Times (2022), a highway loop in Rochester which previously cut
 7

through black communities has finally been torn down and affordable housing was built on the

site of the old highway.

The Cross Bronx Expressway. as shown in Figure 2, was constructed in the early 1960s.

According to a New York Times (2022) article:

The Cross Bronx Expressway was the first American highway to be built through a

dense, urban environment, cutting the Bronx in two and breaking up some of the most

racially integrated neighborhoods in the United States. It displaced an estimated 40,000

residents and depressed property values in the South Bronx. The expressway routinely

ranks among the country’s most congested roads. Much of the traffic is long-haul

trucking that passes straight through the borough, leaving behind only pollution. The

surrounding neighborhoods have some of the highest rates of asthma in the city, linked to

particulate matter and pollution from exhaust.

Brian Pascus also interviewed Matt Carmody, vice president of traffic and transportation

engineering at consulting firm AKRF. He says, “They drew lines on a map and looked to make

lines go through communities that wouldn't protest highways and where land was cheapest”

(Pascus, 2021). The I-95 section of the Cross Bronx Expressway boasted an average of 175,000

cars a day, with a quarter of them being trucks (Pascus, 2021). The pollution from the trucks

alone contributes to health issues in minority communities in surrounding areas. Pascus (2021)

says two areas severed by the Cross Bronx Expressway, Pelham-Throgs Neck and Cotrona in the

South Bronx have asthma rates of 8.2% and 7.1%, respectively. He goes on to state that

neighborhoods like Riverdale and others in the North Bronx area, which are farther from the

heavy traffic, have asthma rates of 3.8% and 2.7%, respectively. With property levels being

depressed as a result of the construction, the only people willing to move into these
 8

neighborhoods are low-income groups, most of whom are minorities. And now, they’re also

being affected by the pollution caused by the highways they live near.

Houston, Texas

Figure 4

I-10 through Texas

I-10 (see figure 4) is a major interstate highway that cuts through the southern half of

Texas. I-10 begins in Jacksonville, Florida and ends in Los Angeles, California, spanning 2,460

miles. In Houston, the original construction of I-10 “removed tens of thousands of people” and

“wiped out black business districts” (Dillon & Poston, 2021). The construction of I-610 in the

1960s also resulted in “floodwaters from nearby areas pooling into Independence Heights,” a

minority community in Houston. Recently, there have been plans to expand the highways in
 9

Houston in order to reduce highway congestion (Dillon & Poston, 2021). The New York Times

(2021) says the following about the expansion:

The expansion would demolish the Clayton Homes and displace many more residents

from the historic Black and Latino neighborhoods of Near Northside and Independence

Heights — all despite decades of evidence that widening highways does little to relieve

congestion. The Third Ward — the heart of the city’s Black community — remains

blocked off on all sides by highways. The planned expansion would literally widen this

divide.

Liam Dillon and Ben Poston, writers at The Los Angeles Times (2021) say the following about

the expansion:

Houston’s proposed expansion would cover about 450 acres through the center of the

city, adding new lanes and redoing interchanges across four interstates at a cost of $9

billion. Nearly half of the 1,000 families set to lose their homes now live in low-income

apartment buildings, including the Clayton Homes and Kelly Village public housing

complexes. The demolition toll also involves five churches, three homeless service

providers, two schools and a shelter for refugee children.

These communities will be torn down, people will be displaced, and if trends continue,

they will not be compensated for their losses. Minority communities in Houston were

demolished in the 1900s and continue to risk being demolished to this day due to the I-10

expansion, with the U.S. Department of Transportation investigating claims that the expansion is

discriminatory (Dillon & Poston, 2021). According to the Los Angeles Times (2021), Modesti

Cooper, who filed the report, has been harassed by the Texas Department of Transportation after

their agency discovered her claims.

 10

Birmingham, Alabama

Figure 5

Interstates in Birmingham, Alabama

In Birmingham, the interstates affect multiple communities. As shown in Figure 5, I-59

comes from the east and cuts straight into the center of town. However, the highway, directly

southwest of the airport, “departs from its generally northeast to southwest trajectory to loop

north and bisect the predominantly Black portion of East Birmingham” (Connerly, 2002).

Charles Connerly, a professor at Florida State University, researched this loop. He says:

From a traffic-engineering viewpoint, bypassing the Woodlawn neighborhood was not an

easy achievement as it required a sharp turn in the highway, thereby reducing the
 11

interstate’s speed limit and increasing the danger of an accident as automobiles and large

commercial trucks, accustomed to traveling sixty or more miles per hour, had to slow to

forty-five miles per hour to negotiate the bend in the road.

The original plan for I-59 avoided the sharp loop, was approximately 1.25 miles shorter than the

current highway, and did not run through the Black neighborhoods of East Birmingham

(Connerly, 2002). It would appear that I-59 was deliberately routed through a minority

community at the expense of highway safety in order to protect the White community of

Woodlawn.

Similarly to the Woodlawn loop, I-59 continues to cut through a primarily Black

neighborhood, East Lake, “taking an upward bend,” instead of heading south toward Wahouma

Park, which separated the Black and White neighborhoods (Connerly, 2002). The original plan

for I-59 also did not include the highway cutting through East Lake. Therefore, again, I-59 was

deliberately routed through a minority community in order to keep it away from the White

communities to the south.

To the west of Birmingham, affluent Black neighborhood Smithfield once was home to

the wealthier Black elite. Despite their wealth, I-59 was routed straight through the middle of this

neighborhood, showing that it was not class that dictated the highway’s path, but race. The

residents were displaced and forced to leave (Connerly, 2002). Middle class Black people had

trouble finding housing in Birmingham at the time, as “few areas in the city had been zoned for

blacks, particularly areas that were not located near industry and that were zoned for single-

family dwellings” (Connerly, 2002).

Finally, In some neighborhoods, like College Hills and Fountain Heights, the Black

population had been increasing steadily in the 1950s and 1960s. With the removal of racial
 12

zoning, White citizens got violent, sometimes even bombing Black families in their houses

(Connerly, 2002). Interstates 59 and 65 (see figure 1) were perfectly aligned with the racial

zoning boundaries put forth in the early 1900s (Connerly, 2002), effectively reinstating said

boundaries.

The United States interstate system has displaced minorities, harmed them economically,

and reinforced decade old racial boundaries. First, in Miami, thousands of citizens were

displaced and forced into low-income, run down neighborhoods such as Liberty Square. Second,

in New York, highways demolished Black communities and contributed to pollution. Third, in

Houston, expansions continue to affect and displace the same communities the original

constructions harmed. Last, in Birmingham, highways were deliberately routed around White

neighborhoods in favor of cutting through Black ones, and some even were constructed directly

along the boundaries of racial zones. Despite differences in location (North and South) the

pattern of minority communities being negatively affected by interstate highways persists. Even

when Black communities were just as wealthy and affluent as nearby White ones, the Black

communities were nonetheless discriminated against. Unfortunately, it is still highly debated

whether the United States deliberately ordered the construction of these highways to destroy

minority communities.

My opinion

With the information presented in this paper, I have come to the conclusion that the

United States needs to fix the mistakes it made. I think a large reason as to why nothing is being

done about this issue is the lack of awareness. There are so many people who don’t know this

has been going on for decades, and some that do know completely disregard it. We should be

educating people on this issue as the first step in the right direction. Then, we should research
 13

and contact the communities that have been harmed, and find ways to support them and

reimburse them for the trouble they have gone through. Once we have done these steps, we can

make bigger strides in fixing the problem, like attempting to pass legislation that would make

this practice illegal (because it still happens, like in Texas) and passing laws to protect the

communities that our country has hurt. We could even attempt to get funding to demolish and

rebuild highways—as has happened in some places—so our interstates don’t cut through

anyone’s communities anymore.

Obviously, this is a small part of a larger, encompassing issue. We as a country need to

do better overall, but I am a strong believer in the idea that we need to pinpoint specific issues

before we tackle the overarching one. I think this is a good first step into making amends with

those we have harmed.

References
 14

Archer. (2020). “White Men’s Roads Through Black Men’s Homes”: Advancing Racial

Equity Through Highway Reconstruction. Vanderbilt Law Review, 73(5), 1259–1330.

Blakemore, E. (2021, August 17). Interstate highways were touted as modern marvels.

Racial injustice was part of the plan. The Washington Post. Retrieved September 13,

2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/16/interstate-highways-

were-touted-modern-marvels-racial-injustice-was-part-plan/.

Connerly. (2002). From Racial Zoning to Community Empowerment: The Interstate

Highway System and the African American Community in Birmingham, Alabama.

Journal of Planning Education and Research, 22(2), 99–114.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X02238441

Dillon, L., & Poston, B. (2021, November 11). Freeways force out residents in

communities of color — again. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from

https://www.latimes.com/projects/us-freeway-highway-expansion-black-latino-

communities/.

File:cross bronx expressway map.svg. Wikimedia Commons. (n.d.). Retrieved September

18, 2022, from

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cross_Bronx_Expressway_Map.svg#/media/

File:Cross_Bronx_Expressway_Map.svg

GISGeography. (2022, June 2). Birmingham map, Alabama. GIS Geography. Retrieved

September 18, 2022, from https://gisgeography.com/birmingham-map-alabama/

Highway history. U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration.

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2022, from

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/finalmap.cfm
 15

NBC New York. (2021, August 30). BQE construction begins Monday. NBC New York.

Retrieved September 18, 2022, from

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/bqe-construction-begins-monday/

3246575/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2022, from http://i10highway.com/images/interstate-10-texas-

map.gif

Brian Pascus. (2021). How New York City’s legacy of racism lives on in community-disrupting

highway infrastructure. Crain’s New York Business, 37(43), 10–.

Susaneck, A. P. (2022, September 8). Mr. Biden, Tear Down This Highway. The New

York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/08/opinion/urban-highways-

segregation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.

Leland Ware. (2021). Plessy’s Legacy: The Government’s Role in the Development and

Perpetuation of Segregated Neighborhoods. RSF : Russell Sage Foundation Journal of

the Social Sciences, 7(1), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.7758/rsf.2021.7.1.06

 16

Annotated Bibliography

Archer. (2020). “White Men’s Roads Through Black Men’s Homes”: Advancing Racial

Equity Through Highway Reconstruction. Vanderbilt Law Review, 73(5), 1259–1330.

This 70 page article is titled after a popular phrase that was used by civil rights activists to

protest the interstate system. It has a large abstract, which highlights that the interstate system

severed black communities, that it was used to further segregation, and it separated black and

white communities. These barriers that were erected still remain to this day. It continues to

explain that due to the need to rebuild or replace highways, the government has a chance to fix

its past mistakes, but people are wary that the government may just make them again. I will now

summarize the main sections I am going to use: the sections on Miami, Birmingham, Atlanta,

poverty, and psychological impact. This article goes significantly more in-depth regarding the

Miami/Overtown issue than the other sources I have. It begins by explaining that white business

leaders constructed Liberty Square as a new place for the Black people of Miami to live so they

could expand their businesses into Overtown. Then, when the Federal Highway Act was passed,

these white leaders used it as their opportunity to push out Black residents. Some 10,000

residents were displaced, pushed to the edge of Miami and most were never fairly compensated

for their loss, nor were many new housing units constructed for them. Overtown went from

40,000 residents to only 8,000 after I-95 was built. In Birmingham, AL, Black residents were not

displaced per se, but the interstate put up a divide between Black and White neighborhoods and

communities. As Black citizens moved into White neighborhoods, the state redirected I-59 and I-

65 to form a de facto racial zoning line. For instance, I-59 was constructed perfectly along the

line of an old racial zoning boundary. Similarly. I-65 followed old racial zoning boundaries as

well, this time dividing the neighborhood of Fountain Heights between Black and White. In
 17

Atlanta, I-20 was built to be a wall between Black neighborhoods to the north and White

neighborhoods to the south. When Black residents tried to gain permission to build housing

south of I-20, they were denied. Black Americans were forced into segregated neighborhoods,

ghettos, and lived in overcrowded housing or were homeless as a result of the divide. Black

businesses were torn down to make way for the interstates as well, leaving residents without

income. These factors combined resulted in a cycle of poverty and segregation that permeates to

this day. Low income children are not able to escape poverty, nor are they ever given a chance

to. In Nashville, Black businesses, churches, and universities were either torn down or divided by

the “wall” that is I-40. In St. Paul, a neighborhood named Rondo was torn down to make room

for I-94. One resident said the residents of Rondo became castaways. The article goes on to

explain the psychological impact of segregation: how it results in a sense of otherness, how it

“assaults” dignity and self respect, and how it humiliates. I would use this article for its powerful

analysis of the issues at hand. Its extensive length ensures I would have an adequate amount of

information. This article is credible as it comes from an academic, peer-reviewed journal with

well researched information. It is similar to my other sources as it expands upon information

already discussed, but it is different due to its length.

Blakemore, E. (2021, August 17). Interstate highways were touted as modern marvels.

Racial injustice was part of the plan. The Washington Post. Retrieved September 13,

2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/16/interstate-highways-

were-touted-modern-marvels-racial-injustice-was-part-plan/.

The article begins by giving an example of Interstate 77, which, when constructed, cut straight

through a predominantly Black neighborhood in Brooklyn. It continues to give context regarding

the idea and development of the system. Then, it references how the interchange between
 18

Interstates 95 and 395 was originally supposed to bypass Overtown (a historically Black

neighborhood in Miami) but was instead redirected to go straight through, displacing over

10,000 residents. The article goes on to give several other examples, such as Logan Heights, a

Latino community in San Diego, being cut in half by I-5, Black Bottom, a majority Black

neighborhood in Detroit, was bulldozed to make room for I-375, and finally, in Alabama, the

state’s highway director (a KKK member), ignored unused land and chose a route that displaced

civil rights leaders. It goes on to mention protests by minority communities and toward the end

states that people of color who live near interstates are more likely to suffer from the effects of

air pollution (with higher chances to have illnesses like asthma). I will use this source to quote its

references to specific interstates, like the mention of the I-95/395 interchange destroying

Overtown. The source is credible because it comes from The Washington Post, a well-known

news source that was founded in 1877 and is based out of D.C. This source relates to my others

because it comments on the same topics brought up in the others, while also mentioning the

environmental effects of interstates.

Connerly. (2002). From Racial Zoning to Community Empowerment: The Interstate

Highway System and the African American Community in Birmingham, Alabama.

Journal of Planning Education and Research, 22(2), 99–114.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X02238441

The article begins by describing how the interstate system in Birmingham tried to follow the

boundaries set by the original racial zoning laws. Then, it goes on to explain how the

construction of said interstates displaced Black citizens and led to population loss. Then, it

concludes by referencing a time when a Black community stood up to the government and got

them to change the path of the highway so it would not destroy a majority Black neighborhood.
 19

This source was hard to summarize well due to its use of maps and charts. However, these are

helpful for visualizing how the interstates affected the communities in Birmingham. I will use it

for its insight on Birmingham, specifically its points on individual neighborhoods. This source is

credible as it is an academic, peer-reviewed article. It was also written by an FSU professor, who

later received awards for a book about the same topic. It is similar to my other sources as it

discusses the issue at hand, but it is different as it only covers one city instead of multiple.

Dillon, L., & Poston, B. (2021, November 11). Freeways force out residents in

communities of color — again. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from

https://www.latimes.com/projects/us-freeway-highway-expansion-black-latino-

communities/.

The article begins by giving a real-world anecdote of a Black person by the name of Cooper,

who bought a home in Texas which is now set to be demolished to make room for the expansion

of I-10. It comments on the history of the interstate system and its effects on minority

communities in history but shifts its focus to emphasize how widenings, expansions, and other

construction of highways affect communities now. It gives recent examples of cities in which

interstate expansion negatively harmed minority communities. It states that its analysis is the

“first of its kind” to measure the effects over the last 30 years, and goes on to explain its research

and subsequent findings. It continues to give some recent good news, such as highways being

torn down, the pausing of new projects, and stopping lane expansions. Then, it takes a step back

to look at the history behind the issue. It mentions the same story in Miami as the Washington

Post source, examples in Los Angeles, and even gives helpful graphics to show the buildings that

were torn down in Tampa as a result of the construction of I-275. It ends by explaining that

although these people are compensated for the loss of their homes, their neighborhoods, their
 20

culture, and their way of life are disrupted. I would use this source for its several specific

examples of minority neighborhoods that were affected by the construction of the interstate

system. I also like that it connects to modern expansions as well, so my research is not only

limited to the past. Like The Washington Post, this source is credible because of its long-standing

history (it was founded in 1881) and because it is widely known. An issue with credibility is the

claim that this analysis is the only of its kind, which suggests there may be no other sources to

back the article up, however, given the LA Times’ history and the obvious care put into the

research, I still view it as credible. This source relates to the others as it expands upon the

information in the others and also fills in gaps.

Brian Pascus. (2021). How New York City’s legacy of racism lives on in community-

disrupting highway infrastructure. Crain’s New York Business, 37(43), 10–.

The article begins by prefacing a new infrastructure bill that the Mayor-elect of New York City

plans on using to improve subway systems and highway systems. It then goes on to highlight two

instances of highways in New York that have racist pasts. It begins with the Cross Bronx

Expressway (mentioned in the New York Times article), explaining its history, what areas were

torn down, and how highway traffic contributes to pollution in the area which affects the

minority communities there. It concludes by discussing the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which

cuts through minority communities, but strangely loops around a majority White neighborhood,

Brooklyn Heights. One of these minority communities, a neighborhood by the name of Red

Hook, is home to the largest public housing development in Brooklyn, but is cut off from other

neighborhoods by the highway. I will use this source for its quotes and information about the

BQE, which has not been in any other sources thus far. This source seems less credible than the

others, as it comes from a site I have never heard of, and it is not peer-reviewed. However, the
 21

information lines up with the information in other sources, and the quotes used are from highly

qualified professionals, like the Mayor, Eddie Bautista, who is the executive director of the New

York Environmental Justice Alliance, and Matt Carmody, vice president of traffic and

transportation engineering at consulting firm AKRF. This source is similar to the New York

Times article as it also highlights New York City, but it is different because it includes

information about the BQE.

Susaneck, A. P. (2022, September 8). Mr. Biden, Tear Down This Highway. The New

York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/08/opinion/urban-highways-

segregation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.

This article begins by discussing the Houston interstate expansions and how it will affect

minority communities, even referencing the LA Times analysis in the source above this. It then

gives a graphic of the Cross Bronx Expressway, highlighting the areas that were demolished as

you scroll, while also providing statistics and information regarding the displacement of

minorities as a result of the expressway’s construction. It gives a powerful interactive graph that

shows the percentage of white vs. nonwhite people that were displaced as a result of the

interstate system. It explains that people were often not compensated for their loss, and

minorities were forced into moving into public housing, which creates a cycle of generational

poverty. It goes on to provide some examples of when roads were torn down, but circles back to

explain that U.S. legislation is trending toward highway expansion, with $273 billion likely

being used for expansion, and explains that by pushing an electric car narrative, the government

continues to repeat their mistakes. I would mainly use this source for its graphics and charts.

These are insanely helpful tools that provide an immense amount of statistics regarding
 22

displacement (especially in the case of the chart). Like the Washington Post article and the LA

Times article, this one is also very credible. Despite being an opinion piece, it cites sources via

hyperlinks throughout the article and was published by a highly known and respected news

source, The New York Times, which was founded in 1851. This source is similar to the others but

mostly similar to the LA Times article and is different from any of them due to its use of

interactive graphics and charts.

Leland Ware. (2021). Plessy’s Legacy: The Government’s Role in the Development and

Perpetuation of Segregated Neighborhoods. RSF : Russell Sage Foundation Journal of

the Social Sciences, 7(1), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.7758/rsf.2021.7.1.06

This article analyzes the impact of Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson on segregation

through multiple categories. There are sections on redlining, segregated schools, public housing,

and for the purposes of my paper, interstate highways. The interstate section gives background

history on the system’s development, defines an interstate, and continues to explain how these

highways affected minority communities through the use of a quote from a former U.S.

Department of Transportation secretary. I will use this source for its quote by the secretary, a

person who would be very knowledgeable about the subject. I will also use it for its examples of

neighborhoods torn down and its mention of inner-city ghettos. This source is credible because it

comes from an academic, peer-reviewed journal. It was found on the FSU Library database,

which I trust. It has an extensive bibliography, so I know its information was well researched.