Roads Are Racist Now, I Guess

Just when you think everything with potential to be labeled “racist” has been so named, Pete Buttigieg comes out swinging.

Y’all, roads are racist now. 

ROADS. Are RACIST.

This is not a case of an intentionally misleading paraphrase done in bad faith, this is almost word for word what he said:

There are probably around 721 factors behind the statistic that black Americans are significantly more likely to die in traffic incidents– whether in a car, on a bike, or walking on their own feet. A good chunk of them are probably to do with living in impoverished areas that don’t have decent infrastructure, and there’s a legitimate argument to be made that the precipitating factors for that fact are rooted in historical racism.

But to shrug and say “IT’S ALL RACIST” is. . . well, it’s actually pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Secretary Buttgig. That is to say, stupid.

Here’s a question no one asked in any of the articles I read in researching this piece: what about seatbelt usage? According to the Department of Transportation, of all the passenger vehicle fatalities in 2018, 56% of black victims were unrestrained, compared to 45% of white victims. (The highest rates of unrestrained passengers were among Native Americans at 67% and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders at 68%, though the total number of deaths was significantly lower.)

I’m not an expert, but an 11-point difference seems significant to me.

Are seatbelts racist? Is wearing one a dog whistle for white supremacy? 

Or what about the fact that the majority of black Americans live in urban or suburban areas, where they’re more likely to be pedestrians? Is THAT racist? Surely it’s better than being a stupid bumpkin right-wing idiot, which is what the left calls people in rural communities. 

If Buttgig or any of his colleagues ACTUALLY cared about the black Americans dying in traffic fatalities, they’d be asking these questions. They’d embrace the nuance in their messaging and seek truths upon which to base their policy proposals. 

But they don’t care. It’s about getting re-elected, not solving problems. If Buttgig’s DOT actually went out and lowered speed limits in predominantly black residential areas, researched effective messaging about seat belt safety, and invested in better street lighting in places that don’t have it, what would they run on next election? Better to blame the specter of racism, a boogeyman that will never go away in their discourse as long as it’s convenient.