9/8/2021

Friend, JRB,

            Despite a few hecklers I assume that most of the people in Manville were grateful for your visit, especially, Somerset County Commissioner, Shanel Robinson who claims they have had 4 100-year floods in the past 20 years. Perhaps relocation would be a better idea than continuing to build in that low spot at the confluence of 2 rivers.

            Speaking of relocation, the WP reports that Black folks in North Charleston, SC, will be displaced by the widening of I-526. In yesterday’s KCS I read about the Reconnecting Communities Project which is supposed to ameliorate the harm caused by building highways through Black communities. In Kansas City folks are excited by the prospect of capping I-670 with a park. Displacing people in SC contradicts this new project. What’s up with that?

            The Black landowners in SC are not getting fair prices for their land. The least you can do is ensure that they not only get fair compensation, but they get some $$ for reparation for the harms caused to their health & well-being by the previous highway expansion projects they suffered through.

            The fascinating fact of the day comes from the G where Dartmouth prof, Randall Balmer explains the origins of the White Evangelicals obsession with abortion. He says the Religious Right originally came together in 1990 when the IRS attempted to rescind the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University for its racially discriminating policies. They were looking for political “causes” to galvanize the parishners & someone suggested abortion. Before then, they were ok with it. In fact, in 1971, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution in favor of it.

            Not only did racial discrimination give rise to the anti-abortion movement, it also impacted the mapping of the Interstate highway system. Some scholars claim the highways locked in segregation by creating barriers between Black and White neighborhoods.

            Pray for Myanmar,

            BYBS,