Justice
The Meaning of Blight
A word that was originally about plant diseases became “infused with racial and ethnic prejudice” when it moved to the city.
This post is part of a CityLab series on wastelands, and what we squander, discard, and fritter away.
There’s a difference in what President Donald Trump prescribes for restoring “the middle class” and fixing “the inner city.” Each of those demographics are, respectively, stand-in terms for the white small towns and suburbs that voted for him, and the black urban neighborhoods that didn’t. In both cases, he calls for bringing back jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and increasing wages. But when addressing black communities—or “inner cities”—Trump talks about policing and blight.