In my last blog I talked about how the protests over Ferguson and other instances of police brutality may actually be working against poor communities of color by discouraging investment in or near those communities. I talked about how one large historically African-American inner-city community near me has been consistently left out of the development that has taken place in the suburbs far to the west and south of that community, making that community effectively an economic desert as well as a food desert. Now another form of discrimination has reared its ugly head.
Because I don't live in any of the districts affected, I have only a sketchy knowledge of what is going on, but apparently the municipal bus system is not required to provide service to all districts. At least three districts have decided or are thinking about deciding to opt out of the municipal bus system. All three are on the edge of town. Two of the three are comparatively well-off. The third, not so much.
If this plan goes through, it will have the effect of cutting off bus-dependent downtown residents' access to at least one Wal-Mart, one Meijers (Wal-Mart's Midwestern competitor), the community college, and numerous employment opportunities on the west and southwest side of town. Officially, this is not discrimination, at least not race-based discrimination. But who is most likely to ride the bus? Don't tell me that township officials don't know what they are doing when they support opting out of the bus system. They do. They are sending a message that they don't want certain people in their community. They cannot legally say that these people can't come into their community. But they are not required to provide a way for them to come, either. So it works very nicely in keeping a kind of segregation going. And, as an additional bonus, it lessens the chance of any protests coming into these areas. If you can't get there, you can't protest there.
I learned about this from an email I received from the interfaith coalition. I am torn. I would like to support them in their fight against the proposed cuts in bus service, because I know what it is like not to have access to transportation. However, not only do I not live in any of the affected districts, I don't even live in the same county. If I have benefited from "white flight"--and I have--it has also made me voiceless when it comes to certain matters. I know from attending village council meetings that those who actually live in the affected districts and who potentially will be affected by loss of bus service to those districts are the only ones whose words will be taken seriously by those officials. I am disqualified from speaking out at those meetings because I don't live there and I don't ride the bus. Why should I give those officials another reason not to listen to the people who are most affected?
Because I don't live in any of the districts affected, I have only a sketchy knowledge of what is going on, but apparently the municipal bus system is not required to provide service to all districts. At least three districts have decided or are thinking about deciding to opt out of the municipal bus system. All three are on the edge of town. Two of the three are comparatively well-off. The third, not so much.
If this plan goes through, it will have the effect of cutting off bus-dependent downtown residents' access to at least one Wal-Mart, one Meijers (Wal-Mart's Midwestern competitor), the community college, and numerous employment opportunities on the west and southwest side of town. Officially, this is not discrimination, at least not race-based discrimination. But who is most likely to ride the bus? Don't tell me that township officials don't know what they are doing when they support opting out of the bus system. They do. They are sending a message that they don't want certain people in their community. They cannot legally say that these people can't come into their community. But they are not required to provide a way for them to come, either. So it works very nicely in keeping a kind of segregation going. And, as an additional bonus, it lessens the chance of any protests coming into these areas. If you can't get there, you can't protest there.
I learned about this from an email I received from the interfaith coalition. I am torn. I would like to support them in their fight against the proposed cuts in bus service, because I know what it is like not to have access to transportation. However, not only do I not live in any of the affected districts, I don't even live in the same county. If I have benefited from "white flight"--and I have--it has also made me voiceless when it comes to certain matters. I know from attending village council meetings that those who actually live in the affected districts and who potentially will be affected by loss of bus service to those districts are the only ones whose words will be taken seriously by those officials. I am disqualified from speaking out at those meetings because I don't live there and I don't ride the bus. Why should I give those officials another reason not to listen to the people who are most affected?
