In 1953 and 1961, two highways cut through Boston Chinatown against the residents' will, displacing hundreds of families. The highways were planned to ease traffic movement in downtown and allow white people living in the suburbs to commute in the city in cars.

The highways displaced far more than houses. Clean air, for one, is long gone. In 2018, Boston Chinatown had the highest level of vehicle emissions in Massachusetts.

This incident is not an isolated event for communities of color but one example of widespread environmental racism. It highlights the continued exposure of America's structural racism that places a disproportionate burden of ecological hazard on people of color in the context of the warming planet and worsening environment.