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Transitliberationism: A Bicycle Anarchist Manifesto [OC]
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this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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Oh man, this author didn't even cover one of the major ways that cars are racist, but did hint at it in other sections. The car-dependent design of suburbia that we have today was explicitly racist in intent. After the US Supreme Court ruled that housing discrimination was unconstitutional, local leaders had to figure out a different approach to enforce segregation, and they did it by using wealth as a proxy. Under the new zoning and building codes, they made minimum lot sizes big enough, and maximum occupancy low enough, that poor people couldn't afford houses in the new subdivisions. The need for a car to get around further added to the cost. Then, they offered subsidies (like the GI Bill) to poor white people, and not to poor Black people. Voilà! "Natural" segregation.
The handful of Black families that managed to amass enough wealth to move in anyway could be dealt with by more direct tactics.
Oh shit! I knew I was missing something. Thanks. I'll add that in.
Oh, you're the author! Thanks for writing. Just to be totally clear, I wasn't criticizing, but sharing more, because even after 8,000 words, there's plenty more to say on the topic. (e: Now I see the [OC] marker, which had wrapped to a new line in my browser.)
Oh no, that was great. Do you mind if I just pull quote you into the article? I think you said it all as well or better than I would.
Sure! I'd be honored.
Awesome! Added. Lemme know if you want to be cited in a different way. Thanks again!
Looks good! I like the comment about being able to write a whole book on it. Richard Rothstein did write one: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America I found it a disturbing and very enlightening read.
Wait... what? Is there some racist BS baked into the GI Bill that I'm not familiar with?
As much (and it's a fuckin lot) as the military gets wrong, the GI Bill always sounded pretty cut and dry: do your time and don't die, fine, we'll pay for school.
But do school me if there's more going on here.
Here's one article on the topic: How the GI Bill’s Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans
Oh, WWII era was pretty fucking dismal for civil rights. And as unacceptably shit in that regard our systems still are, we have made some decent progress, largely at the hands of minorities showcasing the best people our military has to offer - i.e., groups like the Tuskegee Airmen who were treated like shit, but proceeded to kick ass and take names anyway.
The effects of all that shit still lingers, and we've got a lot of progress yet to make... but idk that today's GI Bill is a worthwhile target. Unless I'm missing something and it's still being used as a tool to fuck over minorities today.
...course, we do still have 2 years of Trump, and if the GI Bill being used to level the playing field in today's world makes it into his radar, I'm sure it will be revoked or just overtly made white only, cuz it's not like laws mean anything nowadays.
But, I guess before I cling to it too confidently, I'll reiterate: Is (not was) some racist BS baked into the GI Bill? It (today's) still looks like an equalizer to me, despite its fucked up history.
Also to be clear, I'm talking historically as in the time period in which car-dominance got baked into policy. And like Humpty Dumpty, when I use a word, it means precisely what I wish it to mean.
Kidding! I've only ever heard "GI Bill" refer to the 1944 legislation, which sunset in 1956. I wasn't aware that people may use the term to refer to subsequent bills. TIL.
Got it! That makes much more sense - we're talking about two very different things. Or at least, two very different states of the same thing. 'The GI Bill' in modern context just means that scholarship troops can pay for school with.
Right now there are two iterations I'm aware of - the Montgomery GI Bill which you don't automatically get, but have to make deposits to that are deducted from military pay... making it extra fucked up if troops did that and were still denied the payoff at the end of the tunnel; and the Post 9/11 GI Bill which doesn't have a deposit, but carries some trade off that I don't remember.
I believe they do require an honorable discharge, so if that's still being weaponized against minorities then access to it is at least partially locked behind a race gate, which stands out as the highest potential for abuse today.
...oh, there's also the "Forever GI Bill" but iirc all that did was knock a time requirement off of the other two - used to have to use with 10 or 15 or something years of separation; now it's good for life.