4 ms·
First, this was too long. Well-done journalism does not have to be a tome unto itself; vignettes of his daughter the ballerina add little to the story besides
by bin0 7y ago
First, this was too long. Well-done journalism does not have to be a tome unto itself; vignettes of his daughter the ballerina add little to the story besides acting as padding.
Secondly, I don't get this part. From the article:
> In the 1940s, the city built Independence Boulevard, a four-lane highway that cut through the heart of its Brooklyn neighborhood, dividing and displacing a thriving working-class black community. The damage continued in the ’60s and ’70s with new interstates.
I don't get this part. I thought red-lining and confining blacks to ghettos was the problem? Wouldn't building an interstate mean more commerce and more prosperity?
- Frondo 7y agoThe interstate highway system cut neighborhoods in half and let people drive right through them. it didn't bring people to them -- better local infrastructure would do that and that's been systematically underfunded for decades.
- bin0 7y agoI get where you're coming from, but I'm not sure this was malicious. First, you could have driven around, which is probably what people did. More importantly, this happened all over with the interstate system; old railroad towns had their last gasp and newer highway towns replaced them. Finally, interstate is federal, so blame them if any one.