I grew up in North Carolina surrounded by infrastructure. I woke up to cars and trucks whirring by the two urban freeways surrounding us. I saw the white contrails and heard the crackling thunder of airplanes departing and landing from the nearby airport. While the infrastructure served all, my neighbors and I lived next to it. It was only years later that I began to understand the role racial discrimination played in these conditions — and that for decades, infrastructure has marginalized communities of color, isolated neighborhoods and divided communities along racial lines.
I grew up in North Carolina surrounded by infrastructure. I woke up to cars and trucks whirring by the two urban freeways surrounding us. I saw the white contrails and heard the crackling thunder of airplanes departing and landing from the nearby airport. While the infrastructure served all, my neighbors and I lived next to it. It was only years later that I began to understand the role racial discrimination played in these conditions — and that for decades, infrastructure has marginalized communities of color, isolated neighborhoods and divided communities along racial lines.
