Transportation and Racism

The Freedom Rider

By the time you hear that siren sound
Then your soul is in the lost and found
Forever, Forever, Freedom rider

What does transportation planning have to do with the fight against racism?

Transportation has played a key role in the Civil Rights movement, from  Rosa Parks not giving up her bus seat, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to the Freedom Riders.  Transportation should be prepared to play a role in the current struggle against racism.

The Civil Rights struggle is not over. Racism can be measured and has endured.  The US Census reports on household wealth in the United States and differentiates that wealth by race.  If there was no racism, then wealth should be distributed evenly across all races.  However, there is a considerable gap in the reported wealth by race.  

While the inflation adjusted median wealth of households headed by whites has been increasing, the median wealth of households headed by Blacks has remained fairly constant during the reported period. The median wealth of white households has been growing at a Compound  Annual  Growth  Rate, CAGR, of 2.66%, the median wealth of Hispanic Households has been growing at a CAGR of 2.35% while the median wealth of Black households has been growing at a CAGR of only 0.52%.

While there was a bubble in median wealth during the housing bubble of the early 2000s, that  bubble was experienced by Black and Hispanic as well as White households and all households have returned to the trend before that bubble.

Transportation forecasts and decisions need to acknowledge this disparity to ensure that transportation does not exacerbate this gap.