For more than 50 years, Interstate 81 highway has cut through the Southside neighborhood of Syracuse, a city in northwestern New York State. Smoke from vehicles traveling on the elevated road would fall down to the area where most people are Black and poor. Now, New York State wants to replace that part of the elevated highway with a street-level road. The aim is to connect the city's urban areas again. And building could begin as soon as next year. The plan has raised hopes of better times in a city where one in three residents lives in poverty. Some say it could also make up for the damage done to Black residents during the building of Interstate 81 years ago. They were forced to move and have been living under the elevated highway ever since. David Rufus is a lifelong Southside resident. He works as an organizer for the rights group New York Civil Liberties Union. He said, "When they put that highway up, they destroyed this community. Now here's an opportunity to right that wrong by bringing it down. Syracuse was not the only U.S. city where highway-building in the 1950s and 1960s displaced Black residents. Historians are now saying that local officials saw the proposed interstate highway system as an easy way to tear down what they regarded as slum neighborhoods near downtown business areas. The U.S. federal government paid up to 90 percent of the cost of building the new highway. As residents had to move away, it was easier for politicians and business leaders to work on "urban renewal" projects. Joseph DiMento is a law professor at the University of California, Irvine and an expert in the policies of the highway-building. It was a mistake that many cities were making, he said. The reasons they were built were heavily for removal of Blacks from certain areas, he added. Road builders at the time were largely free to ignore environmental, historical, social or other concerns. That permitted them to pay attention only to the most direct way from one point to another. Often, that meant directing those highways through Black neighborhoods, where land was inexpensive and there was little political opposition.
Title: Removing Highways to Heal Racial Wrongs
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/C.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Removing Highways to Heal Racial Wrongs' data-article-id='5672'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='14104'>For more than 50 years, Interstate 81 highway has cut through the Southside neighborhood of Syracuse, a city in northwestern New York State. </span> <span data-start-time='14104' data-end-time='23104'>Smoke from vehicles traveling on the elevated road would fall down to the area where most people are Black and poor.</span> <span data-start-time='23104' data-end-time='31396'>Now, New York State wants to replace that part of the elevated highway with a street-level road. </span> <span data-start-time='31396' data-end-time='36354'>The aim is to connect the city's urban areas again. </span> <span data-start-time='36354' data-end-time='41000'>And building could begin as soon as next year.</span> <span data-start-time='41000' data-end-time='48813'>The plan has raised hopes of better times in a city where one in three residents lives in poverty.</span> <span data-start-time='48813' data-end-time='57979'>Some say it could also make up for the damage done to Black residents during the building of Interstate 81 years ago. </span> <span data-start-time='57979' data-end-time='64167'>They were forced to move and have been living under the elevated highway ever since.</span> <span data-start-time='64167' data-end-time='68792'>David Rufus is a lifelong Southside resident. </span> <span data-start-time='68792' data-end-time='75271'>He works as an organizer for the rights group New York Civil Liberties Union. </span> <span data-start-time='75271' data-end-time='81021'>He said, "When they put that highway up, they destroyed this community. </span> <span data-start-time='81021' data-end-time='86333'>Now here's an opportunity to right that wrong by bringing it down.</span> <span data-start-time='86333' data-end-time='96104'>Syracuse was not the only U.S. city where highway-building in the 1950s and 1960s displaced Black residents.</span> <span data-start-time='96104' data-end-time='112063'>Historians are now saying that local officials saw the proposed interstate highway system as an easy way to tear down what they regarded as slum neighborhoods near downtown business areas.</span> <span data-start-time='112063' data-end-time='119021'>The U.S. federal government paid up to 90 percent of the cost of building the new highway. </span> <span data-start-time='119021' data-end-time='128875'>As residents had to move away, it was easier for politicians and business leaders to work on "urban renewal" projects.</span> <span data-start-time='128875' data-end-time='140063'>Joseph DiMento is a law professor at the University of California, Irvine and an expert in the policies of the highway-building. </span> <span data-start-time='140063' data-end-time='144604'>It was a mistake that many cities were making, he said. </span> <span data-start-time='144604' data-end-time='151604'>The reasons they were built were heavily for removal of Blacks from certain areas, he added.</span> <span data-start-time='151604' data-end-time='160646'>Road builders at the time were largely free to ignore environmental, historical, social or other concerns. </span> <span data-start-time='160646' data-end-time='167042'>That permitted them to pay attention only to the most direct way from one point to another.</span> <span data-start-time='167042' data-end-time='177500'>Often, that meant directing those highways through Black neighborhoods, where land was inexpensive and there was little political opposition.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/C.jpeg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=17518 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/what_is_a_highway.wav'>What is a highway?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='A main road, especially one connecting major towns or cities'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/a_short_road_leading_from_a_public_road_to_a_house_or_garage.wav'><span>A short road leading from a public road to a house or garage</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/a_global_computer_network.wav'><span>A global computer network</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/a_main_road_especially_one_connecting_major_towns_or_cities.wav'><span>A main road, especially one connecting major towns or cities</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/a_system_of_paying_a_deposit_to_secure_an_item_for_later_purchase.wav'><span>A system of paying a deposit to secure an item for later purchase</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=17519 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/where_is_syracuse.wav'>Where is Syracuse?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='New York'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/new_york.wav'><span>New York</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/pennsylvania.wav'><span>Pennsylvania</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/canada.wav'><span>Canada</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/california.wav'><span>California</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=17520 data-hint-location='167042' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/often_that_meant_directing_those_highways_through_black_neighborhoods_where_land_was__blank__and_there_was_little_political_opposition.wav'>Often, that meant directing those highways through Black neighborhoods, where land was <span class='blank'>inexpensive</span> and there was little political opposition.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='inexpensive'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/farmland.wav'><span>farmland</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/disputed.wav'><span>disputed</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/nicer.wav'><span>nicer</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5135/inexpensive.wav'><span>inexpensive</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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