Thread by @washingtonpost

The dismantling of Black communities for highways is not just a thing of the past.

In a planned highway widening project a few miles north of Charleston, 94 percent of displaced residents live in communities mostly consisting of Black and Brown people. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S

This 1957 aerial photograph shows the neighborhoods of Liberty Park and Highland Terrace in North Charleston prior to the construction of a freeway in 1969.

At the time of the freeway construction, these neighborhoods were majority-Black. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S

In the decades since this photo was taken, two freeways cutting through the neighborhoods have displaced dozens of buildings – homes, churches, businesses. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S

History is about to repeat itself: South Carolina’s preferred plan to expand the freeway interchange would result in the demolition or relocation of nearly 100 homes and businesses. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S

Interstate-26 launched immediately after Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, paving the way for major roads that scarred and wiped out communities of color from Atlanta to Oakland. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S

Ruthmae Whitney has lived in Highland Terrace for about 52 years, around the time Interstate-26 arrived.

It forced her, now 86, and her mother to evacuate their first house on Jury Lane. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S

Environmental activists argue that South Carolina is approaching 21st Century traffic congestion in North Charleston with a mid-20th Century solution. wapo.st/3hsxZ2S