Small town America is seeing a new front in the historical struggle for equality. Civil rights leaders say it’s a form of residual segregation and it’s showing up in places like California, Ohio and North Carolina.
Many towns are becoming ever more prosperous, while their original minority neighborhoods are still kept outside city limits. In some cases the black and Latino neighborhoods are all but encircled by big homes, but left without sewer pipes, police and fire protection.
In places like Pinehurst NC, long-time residents have septic tanks leaking up through their lawns while they live next door to a golf course so pristine it hosts the U.S. Open. Some local elected officials argue the disparity is not deliberate. It just reflects the natural course of development and they can’t afford the bill.
Guests:
Maurice Holland Sr., a resident of Midway, NC and planning board representative in Aberdeen, NC
Anita Earls, Director of Advocacy for the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights
Steve Wyatt, Manager, Moore County, NC
Robert Rubin, Legal Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.