Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Our nation’s transportation system is crumbling highways are collapsing, roads are pockmarked, and commuter trains are unreliable. But as acclaimed scholar and ACLU president Deborah N. Archer warns in Dividing Lines, before we can think about rebuilding and repairing, we must consider the role race has played in transportation infrastructure, from the early twentieth century and into the present day. Archer will be in conversation with civil rights activist and founder of Headhigh Entertainment Helen Jones, moderated by Austin Cross (host of LAist’s Morning Edition and AirTalk Fridays).
Drawing on a wealth of sources, including interviews with people who now live in the shadow of highways and other major infrastructure projects, Archer presents a sweeping, national account―from Atlanta, and Houston to Indianapolis and New York City―of our persistent divisions. With immense authority, she examines the limits of current Civil Rights laws, which can be used against overtly racist officials but are less effective in addressing deeper, more enduring, structural challenges. But Archer remains hopeful, and in the final count describes what a just system would look like and how we can achieve it.
Our nation’s transportation system is crumbling highways are collapsing, roads are pockmarked, and commuter trains are unreliable. But as acclaimed scholar and ACLU president Deborah N. Archer warns in Dividing Lines, before we can think about rebuilding and repairing, we must consider the role race has played in transportation infrastructure, from the early twentieth century and into the present day. Archer will be in conversation with civil rights activist and founder of Headhigh Entertainment Helen Jones, moderated by Austin Cross (host of LAist’s Morning Edition and AirTalk Fridays).
Drawing on a wealth of sources, including interviews with people who now live in the shadow of highways and other major infrastructure projects, Archer presents a sweeping, national account―from Atlanta, and Houston to Indianapolis and New York City―of our persistent divisions. With immense authority, she examines the limits of current Civil Rights laws, which can be used against overtly racist officials but are less effective in addressing deeper, more enduring, structural challenges. But Archer remains hopeful, and in the final count describes what a just system would look like and how we can achieve it.
