The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 funded the interstate system. State engineers chose which neighborhoods to destroy. They consistently chose Black ones.
12+ documented communities · 15+ states · 37,000 Black housing units/year at peak
37,000
Units/Year Demolished
1M+
Black Americans Displaced
$0
Restitution Paid
28 inches.
That's how much additional right-of-way was needed to route I-95 around Overtown, Miami. Engineers declined. 15,000 people displaced. This was not an accident — it was a decision.
Southeast
Overtown
Miami, FL · I-95 · 1960s
15,000 displaced
Only 28 more inches needed to reroute. Engineers declined.
Jackson Ward
Richmond, VA · I-95 · 1950s
Thousands displaced
"Harlem of the South." Home of Maggie Walker, first woman to charter a U.S. bank.
Sweet Auburn
Atlanta, GA · I-75/I-85 Connector · 1960s
Thousands displaced
MLK was born here. Called 'the richest Negro street in America.'
Claiborne Avenue / Tremé
New Orleans, LA · I-10 Expressway · 1966
500 homes displaced
Grand oak boulevard chainsawed. Oldest Black neighborhood in America damaged.
Hayti District
Durham, NC · Durham Freeway · 1960s–70s
500+ businesses displaced
NC Mutual Life, largest Black-owned company in America, was headquartered here.
North Nashville
Nashville, TN · I-40 · 1960s
Thousands displaced
A federal court FOUND the routing was racially motivated — one of the only judicial rulings of its kind.
Centennial Hill
Montgomery, AL · I-85 · 1960s
356 homes displaced
Civil rights organizing base. Historians documented racially motivated routing.
Midwest
Rondo
St. Paul, MN · I-94 · 1956–68
700+ displaced
Only Black community of significance in Minnesota. Alternative routes existed.
Black Bottom / Paradise Valley
Detroit, MI · I-375 + Urban Renewal · 1950s
5,000+ displaced
350+ businesses on Hastings Street. Ralph Bunche. Charles Diggs Jr. Della Reese.
Bronzeville
Chicago, IL · Dan Ryan Expressway · 1961
Tens of thousands displaced
Dan Ryan routed to wall off Bronzeville from white Chicago. Robert Taylor Homes replaced organic community.
Northeast
15th Ward
Syracuse, NY · I-81 · 1968
1,300 families displaced
90% of city's Black population lived here. I-81 is now being demolished.
West
Fillmore District
San Francisco, CA · Urban Renewal · 1960s
10,000 displaced
"Harlem of the West." 883 businesses. Maya Angelou, Sly Stone, Etta James.