New Highways Are Still Tearing Communities Apart

Residents of Sandridge, South Carolina are being displaced by a road-building project, reports Sarah Sax in The Guardian. The project highlights the continuing impact of infrastructure projects on primarily Black and brown communities. 

As Sax explains, “In January this year, the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP filed a Title VI complaint alleging that the state and the county violated the civil rights of Black residents in the design, planning and implementation of the Conway Perimeter Road.” The road project “would span four lanes and connect two existing highways and allegedly cut travel time for those headed to the nearby beach – and it would also mean destroying at least six homes in Sandridge.” The project would also cut through the community, making it harder for residents to pass from one side to the other.

Despite federal commitments to ‘reconnecting communities,’ projects like the Conway Perimeter Road are still being planned and implemented around the country, harming communities like Sandridge, where “Residents are mostly Black and elderly, and many are related to each other. It has historic value: one of the first Black-owned grocery stores in the state was opened in Sandridge.” One resident who was offered relocation compensation said the money for her three-bedroom home was just enough to cover a one-bedroom apartment nearby.