What is the purpose of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)? To fight “systemic racism,” obviously.
Roll Call reports that DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and failed presidential candidate, plans to use his new post to do what he can to fight “systemic racism.”
It’s true
Roll Call reports, “Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has now made the fight against that issue [systemic racism] a centerpiece of his new job.”
“We recognize how misguided investments and missed opportunities for federal transportation policies have reinforced racial and economic inequality,” Buttigieg is reported to have recently said to the African American Mayors Association. “The wrong kind of investment can divide or isolate neighborhoods.”
The outlet goes on to document the fact that Buttigieg “talks about the issue frequently,” including in numerous tweets and television appearances.
Roll Call reports: “In his appearances, Buttigieg is repentant for the federal government’s role in building a federal transportation system that frequently cut through Black and brown neighborhoods in order to build freeways, often cutting off Black and brown populations from economic opportunity.”
Now, as DOT head, Buttigieg is going to try to do something about this.
Making up for the past
It ought to be remembered that Buttigieg did not receive the support of the entire political left for his DOT nomination. In fact, he was opposed by groups such as Black Lives Matter (BLM).
The opposition resulted from an incident that occurred when Buttigieg was still the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. At the time, there was a police-involved shooting, and BLM has long argued that Buttigieg did not handle the incident properly. Some also took issue with Buttigieg’s failure to fix South Bend’s homeless population problem.
Accordingly, BLM protested Buttigieg’s confirmation to the DOT.
“[W]e urge the rejection of our former mayor Pete Buttigieg, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Rhode Island, Governor Gina Raimondo for Transportation Secretary or any other cabinet position,” the lead of BLM South Bend said in a statement.
Buttigieg, however, got the job anyway. And now, it appears that he will use the job to appease the more radical members of the Democratic Party, which, of course, is in line with just about everything the Biden administration is doing.
The post DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg announces he will target “systemic racism” first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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