Do Drivers Discriminate Against Minorities at Crosswalks?

One of the most blatant and insulting manifestations of racism in the days of Jim Crow was the expectation that a black person in the South would have to step off the sidewalk to allow a white person to pass. As documented in the book American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow, this was just one of many indignities and restrictions, some of them life-threatening, that African Americans had to endure as they used the basic transportation infrastructure of 19th and 20th century America. (You can read many more examples of transportation discrimination in the Jim Crow era on the Federal Highway Administration’s website.)

Jim Crow is in the past. But now a pilot study conducted by researchers in Portland, Oregon, suggests that black people may still be treated unequally by their fellow citizens when crossing the street. The findings are preliminary, but troubling.