Wrestling With the New Deal
The programs Roosevelt put together may not have met a Platonic ideal of modern progress, but they saved American democracy itself.
AP Photo
When we fight over the New Deal, we are really arguing about the very meaning of America.
In 2014, an up-and-coming writer named Ta-Nehisi Coates made a landmark case for reparations in
The Atlantic, which took aim at, among other targets, one of the most revered figures in the liberal pantheon: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Detailing the failures of New Deal housing policy for Black America, Coates told readers that âRooseveltâs New Deal, much like the democracy that produced it, rested on the foundation of Jim Crow.â
Can this U S city heal racial wounds by busting up its freeway? reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Syndicated Content
By Andy Sullivan
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Reuters) â For more than 50 years, Interstate 81 has cut through the heart of hard-luck Syracuse, New York, raining vehicle exhaust on its Southside neighborhood, where most residents are Black and poor.
Now, New York State wants to replace that elevated stretch of freeway with a street-level boulevard to knit the cityâs urban grid back together. Construction could begin as soon as next year.
The plan has stirred visions of renewal in a city where one in three residents lives in poverty. Some here say it could also make amends to Black residents who were displaced by Interstate 81âs construction decades ago and have been living in its shadow ever since.
Divided highway
The I-81 freeway in Syracuse, New York. REUTERS/Zoe Davis
By
May 25, 2021
For more than 50 years, Interstate 81 has cut through the heart of hard-luck Syracuse, New York, raining vehicle exhaust on its Southside neighborhood, where most residents are Black and poor.
Now, New York State wants to replace that elevated stretch of freeway with a street-level boulevard to knit the city’s urban grid back together. Construction could begin as soon as next year.
The plan has stirred visions of renewal in a city where one in three residents lives in poverty. Some here say it could also make amends to Black residents who were displaced by Interstate 81’s construction decades ago and have been living in its shadow ever since.
Can this U S city heal racial wounds by busting up its freeway? mymixfm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mymixfm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.