Mapping the Destruction of Tennessee's African American Neighborhoods

The mid-20th century building of the interstate highway system, public housing projects and so-called "urban renewal" programs are commonly viewed as key elements in the modernization of America. The projects, however, produced unequal benefits for Tennessee's citizenry. For those whose neighborhoods were unaffected, statistically more likely to be white and wealthy, cities became more attractive and travel easier. For those who lost homes and businesses, more likely to be poor and African American, such projects entailed a serious disruption or even destruction of their communities and made it more difficult to accumulate property and wealth. The effects of these projects persist today, despite the progress achieved by the civil rights movement in the mitigation of Jim Crow Laws.