There have been scandals during Buttigieg’s time as Transportation Secretary.
Pete Buttigieg, who is the Secretary of Transportation, talked about “racial disparities” on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” on a recent Saturday.
Buttigieg was interviewed by Al Sharpton, who is a host on MSNBC. Sharpton asked Buttigieg about his plans to reduce race differences in road deaths.
Sharpton said, referring to how traffic deaths are spread, “Even down to road deaths, it’s not fair.”
I’m working to bring more attention to it because I think it deserves it. The number of people who die on U.S. roads has hit a terrible point. Every year, about 40,000 people die. It’s about as violent as guns. There are also many differences between races. Buttigieg also said that people of color, Native Americans, and people who live in rural areas are more likely to die in car crashes than white people and people who live in cities.
To explain, he said, “There are a lot of reasons, including discrimination and the way roads are built and designed. We have a responsibility to do something about who has access to safe street designs with crosswalks and good lighting and who doesn’t.”
Buttigieg has already brought up the issue of bias in public places in the U.S.
Buttigieg said in November 2021, “What we’re doing is putting people back together who may have been separated or cut off because of discrimination in the past.” That’s good for everyone. I don’t see why someone would be against bringing together groups that have been kept apart by laws based on bias.
After Buttigieg’s appearance on MSNBC, more than 20 Democrats signed a plea to stop “racist traffic enforcement” on U.S. roads.
“Under the guise of traffic enforcement, Black drivers on our nation’s roads and highways have been subjected to unfair scrutiny and too much force,” the letter said. We, the people who signed this letter, want to tell you: “As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), we urge you to condemn the status quo of traffic enforcement and come up with changes to make traffic stops less biased against people of color.”
The letter was signed by Reps who are on the left side of the political spectrum. Ilhan Omar from Minnesota, Cori Bush from Missouri, Jamaal Bowman from New York, and Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts.