Join us in the library or online for a conversation with legal scholar and ACLU President, Deborah N. Archer, author of Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality. This work is an essential account of how transportation infrastructure — from highways and roads to sidewalks and buses — became a means of protecting segregation and inequality after the fall of Jim Crow. Archer will be in conversation with Ron Collins.

Our nation’s transportation system is crumbling: highways are collapsing, roads are pockmarked, and commuter trains are unreliable. But as Archer warns, before we can think about rebuilding and repairing, we must consider the role race has played in transportation infrastructure, from the early twentieth century and into the present day. Drawing on a wealth of sources, including interviews with people who now live in the shadow of highways and other major infrastructure projects, Archer presents a sweeping, national account—from Atlanta and Houston to Indianapolis and New York City—of our persistent divisions. She examines the limits of current Civil Rights laws, which can be used against overtly racist officials but are less effective in addressing deeper, more enduring, structural challenges. But Archer remains hopeful, and in the final count describes what a just system would look like and how we can achieve it.

Deborah N. Archer is president of the ACLU, where she serves as chair of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She is a tenured professor and associate dean at New York University School of Law and the faculty director of the Community Equity Initiative at NYU Law. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.

Ron Collins is a retired law professor, co-founder of the History Book Festival, and the Lewes Public Library’s Distinguished Lecturer. He just released his latest book Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial.

This event is co-sponsored by the ACLU of Delaware.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from Browseabout Books. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. Each copy purchased comes signed. Books will be available for sale and for signing at the event.

NOTE: this session is available to attend in-person or through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER and indicate which you prefer.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email us.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for all our sessions. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.