Racial Justice is Infrastructure

True political moments represent a chance to try and right a historical wrong. The infrastructure bill signed into law last November creates a unique political moment to make marginal progress on longstanding issues of racial justice. Too often policy windows pass, news cycles change and political moments come and go long before experts reach a consensus on the perfect set of policies. With deep issues like systemic racism, especially in a post-industrial city like Chicago, there is a holistic nature to the problem that makes it difficult to untangle, and as a result the issues calcify in the background. The money allocated to state and local governments within the infrastructure bill could address a lot of issues — or none, if local officials pass up the opportunity. In order to make the biggest possible impact with these federal funds, Chicago leaders must act now.

Recent investment in Chicago’s Lincoln Park area stands in contrast to the longstanding underdevelopment of the South Side. Much of the South Side struggles against a persistent lack of funding for  public utilities, roads, schools, public transit, parks and green spaces, and so on. During most budget cycles, the level of investment necessary to address these inequities would be functionally impossible; however, with the passage of the infrastructure bill, there is a real opportunity to close these funding gaps. In this moment, city leaders need to care enough to propose constructive projects, specifically targeting inclusionary housing and equitable infrastructure development.

With the infrastructure bill passed as a standalone bill, the Biden administration is likely preparing to launch shovel-ready projects. Therefore, proposals that fix the baseline issues of the South Side should be front-of-mind for city officials. Following the past years of racial protest in a city ravaged by a pandemic with heavy disparate impacts, city leaders should jump on the opportunity to finance municipal projects with federal subsidies and ameliorate some of Chicago’s deep disparities.

Infrastructure has taken on a fairly broad definition in the recent legislation, though its exact breadth might narrow following language changes from the House of Representatives. Chicago can leverage this broad definition of infrastructure to invest in schools, roads, after-school programs, wraparound social services, lead pipe mitigation, green spaces, small business development and more. Those funds should be targeted at marginalized communities that normally get cut out of the fiscal process.

Regardless of the exact legal definition, city officials can utilize the infrastructure bill to make otherwise infeasible investments, allowing the city to push past normal bottom-line concerns. For a variety of reasons, municipal governments often struggle to pay the bills during recessions, and Chicago is no exception. Keeping up with pension payments and maintaining public services is a real task even in normal times, but as the economy declines, forward-looking investments become more difficult. The infrastructure bill creates a unique window to invest in a traditionally underserved community during this crisis.

Prioritizing physical infrastructure, transportation, affordable housing, and education should be paramount. Negotiating for federal funding can be iterative and tricky, making detailed proposals and over-asking crucial. Using federal infrastructure funding to invest in the South Side is deeply practical, given that there are many cities that will gladly submit generous requests to fund citywide Wi-Fi proposals and newer greener light rail hubs. There is seemingly endless public-private development money allocated to the North Side but investing in the South Side has been historically neglected.

While funding concerns are evergreen, the current economic conditions and inflation are worsening many issues. It should be noted that infrastructure projects double as quality employment opportunities. As budgets tighten, the economy contracts, trends worsen and private money continues to flow elsewhere, the infrastructure bill creates a real opportunity to make meaningful investments in the South Side and create quality blue-collar jobs without going deeper into the fiscal red. Chicago has long-standing problems with regard to racial inequality. Like all cities, it also has year-over-year budget problems. Recessions and inflation do not help either of those issues, but with the recent infrastructure bill now in play, Chicago can make deep investments in the South Side without concern for the typical constraints. In short, the time to invest in the South Side is always; the time to start is now.