Opinion | How Larry Hogan Kept Blacks in Baltimore Segregated and Poor

In the wake of George Floyd's killing, the term "structural racism" has moved from the academic world into the public conversation - a shorthand way to talk about why Black Americans can do everything right and still find themselves with less income and wealth than white Americans of similar education, consigned to live in poorer neighborhoods, with fewer opportunities, more repressive policing and worse life outcomes.

If the idea still sounds abstract to policymakers in Washington, they don't have to look far to observe its realities. They can just drive an hour north, to Baltimore - and see what is not there.

Sorely missing is a long-planned east-west transit route that would connect isolated Black Baltimore neighborhoods to downtown and suburban job centers and to other rail lines. In 2014, the Obama administration offered Maryland a selective "New Starts" grant of $900 million to finally build what was called the Red Line - a project that would not only have connected thousands of Black Marylanders to better jobs but would also create a comprehensive transit system that might restart the Baltimore region's economy and improve race relations by building literal connections between communities.