President Biden's $2 trillion initiative to restore decaying highways, bridges, rail lines, and other economic structures looks yo add something else to minority families, hundreds of billions of dollars to help reverse long-running ethnic inequalities in how the government installs, restores, and fixes up broken down buildings and roads.
The proposal also includes money for the replacement of lead water pipes that have harmed African americans in cities like Flint, Michigan, the cleanup of environmental hazards that have damaged Hispanic neighborhoods, worker training that will target underrepresented groups; and fumigation.
Republicans have opposed Mr. Biden's plan to boost corporate taxes to finance this step of his agenda, accusing him misguiding "fixing infrastructure" to market what they see as unrelated liberal goals White House officials claim would benefit poor citizens and regions.
Relating to econ:
Investing in areas where majority of the people are African American could lead to better quality of life which could lead to giving these groups the necessary tools to excel and scratch at that disadvantage minorities have under White Families.
Article link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/us/politics/biden-infrastructure-racial-equity.html
Questions:
Do you agree with republicans saying that this money is just going to be used to fund democrat ideas?
What other things could Biden to to help minorities?
5 comments:
I do agree that the money is going to be used for democratic ideas mainly because republicans would never think to help others in need in this way. Biden is trying to give back to the less fortunate and help people who do not have the money. I think it is a good idea to use the tax money to help minorities with inequality because they face many hardships, that no one else truly knows the feeling of. I think it will definitely help them out a lot more and I think Biden can also implement things like more consequences for hate crimes, make living costs a little more suitable, etc.
Although this plan might appear expensive I do believe that his initiative is very necessary to help fix some of the broken infrastructure within the country that has been ignored by state and city governments. In many of these cases like in Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi specifically minority communities have been the hardest hit by these crises due to institutionalized racism within the state governments. It is important that Biden has specifically acknowledged this disparity in socio economic classes and is working to address them. I would imagine that such a hefty proposal after the COVID relief plan has come with much pushback against Republicans. However, I do believe that it is a step in the right direction to help some of the racial injustices within America and aid minority communities.
In the time between when this bill was proposed and when it is either passed or not passed in congress, I think it is important to consider the details around how this plan will be executed in order to ensure that minority communities are not inadvertently becoming worse off. In the same article linked in the post, the author describes how some of these types of projects in the past have destroyed existing communities. For example, black neighborhoods have been cut off, which in effect increasing segregation, which is the opposite of the intended effect of connecting jobs and communities. The reason for this is quite simple - big highways are built through communities that lack the political power or representation to stop the highways from being built in their communities. This system inherently favors the wealthy, white communities, as they have greater representation, allowing them to “force” the building of these highways through communities of color, thus defeating the purpose of the entire plan. Not only are communities of color broken up, but these highways also put a lot of pollutants in the air in these communities, which leave “ a layer of silt” on property in that area. This is why the details shouldn’t be lost in the “compromise” with the republicans.
Though this plan is obviously costly, it is much needed in order to adequately aid those who suffer racial inequities, and I think that using this money in order to improve the lives of the minorities is necessary. Though Arnav brought up a relevant topic, and I think that this plan has the possibility to actually aid people of color by actually providing for them, but could also gentrify these areas, as Arnav said, “ This system inherently favors the wealthy, white communities, as they have greater representation, allowing them to “force” the building of these highways through communities of color, thus defeating the purpose of the entire plan”. And I agree with this, those in power “fixing” the communities, rely on the wealthy, which tend to be white people.
I think the money will be used to help suit more democratic ideals, but it is also things that will help improve the lives of so many less fortunate people such as minorities. I think Biden can really work hard on helping fix living situations for more people and tend to a wider audience of people such as minorities and the less fortunate.
Post a Comment