It was disturbing to see an article on eminent domain and redevelopment (Revitalization Projects Hinge on Eminent-Domain Lawsuit) which ignored issues of race and income. Thought there was some attempt to put the current lawsuit in historic context, the controversy was only presented as a conflict between libertarian property-rights activists and public officials bent on economic development for the greater good. The deeper story has been documented over and over, most notably in Robert Caro's The Power Broker, the story of New York official Robert Moses.

Eminent domain and the rationales of "eliminating blight" and of economic development have destroyed, divided and isolated hundreds of communities of color and low income communities across this nation. When relocation has been unavailable or inadequate, as was often the case, homelessness, overcrowding, and increased racial concentration have been the result. The much anticipated economic development is rarely monitored, and when it fails to occur no-one is held accountable. The transfer of land from community and housing use for people of color to private economic schemes by mostly white business interests is both a local story of long standing in D.C. and its inner suburbs and a major national story, and it should have been part of this article. I hope that future treatment of this issue will be more balanced and comprehensive.

Larry Yates, May 2005