President Biden’s new hard infrastructure bill—passed with a level of bipartisan support in both houses of Congress that’s almost unheard of these days for a spending package—is quite a major accomplishment. (What, you thought I was going to make a joke involving Biden’s prior use of an off-color exuberance?) One important measure of its success is the degree to which it increases racial equity. An area of concern is that the law leaves a great deal of discretion on setting spending priorities to the states. Biden has emphasized the importance of advancing racial equity in the infrastructure bill and throughout his presidency—starting on Day One. However, the question remains whether some states might be, ahem, less than fully invested in that issue. Throughout our history, racial inequities have far too often been exacerbated by various infrastructure projects—and not just in the South. Read more