U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Delivers Remarks on RAISE Grant for Rebuilding Medgar Evers Boulevard in Jackson, Mississippi

JACKSON – Last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Congressman Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the Mississippi Transportation Commission Willie Simmons, and Reena Evers-Everette for a groundbreaking ceremony and press conference to celebrate the start of construction on the $20 million “Rebuilding Medgar Evers Boulevard” RAISE grant project. This project, funded by the Biden-Harris Administration, will reconstruct a 1.5-mile section of Medgar Evers Blvd into a safe and sustainable roadway for pedestrians and transit.  

During Secretary Buttigieg’s remarks he underscored the interconnectedness of equitable transportation, economic opportunity, and civil rights. 

The full transcript of Secretary Buttigieg’s remarks are below:       

Thank you. First of all, thank you to Representative Bennie Thompson. We’ve had an extraordinary couple of days here. It's my first visit to Mississippi, as was mentioned, but it won’t be my last, given how well you've treated me and how welcome you’ve made our whole team—but most of all how important the work is that’s going on here. 

It is not lost on us that that checkbook that he [Congressman Thompson] was talking about, that I was honored to be trusted with by President Biden, is on an account that was filled through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package—that Representative Thompson voted for, as he mentioned.  

Some who were not there for us when we were looking for votes are still there when the projects are getting done. I think because you cannot deny how worthy these projects are. But I just want to acknowledge that all of this is possible because of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. 

And by the way, I would also note while the President was, in his first months, sometimes ridiculed for believing that we could do anything on a bipartisan basis in today’s Washington, we did have a number of Republicans—more so in the Senate than in the House, including Senator Wicker—who crossed the aisle to work with us on this legislation. 

I want to thank Commissioner Simmons. We were yesterday in Greenville on a panel where I was among him and some other folks from the Delta. I was given to believe at that time that the term ‘Mississippi’ is a Biblical name which translates from Hebrew as ‘Land of Many Simmonses.”  

We’re surrounded by more than one Simmons here, including your commissioner, who in particular I want to applaud his commitment to making sure those places that were overlooked by past generations of transportation policy get their due this time around. 

And even though he can’t be here, I had an excellent conversation with Mayor Lumumba, who right now is at the Conference of American Mayors looking after the interests of Jackson, but who is well represented here with his team, who we partner with closely on so many good projects like this one. 

And I cannot say enough about how moving it has been to be in the company of Ms. Reena Evers-Everette. Her willingness to share this national treasure and national landmark, that is also her home, is something that will stay with us. 

I’ve been to the Gaston Motel in Alabama. I stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when John Lewis told us he thought he was going to die on that bridge. But I’ve never had an experience like being in that home, feeling the love in whose name Medgar Evers did his work and made that sacrifice.  

You feel what everybody was fighting for when you’re in that home. 

I’m mindful that we’re in the middle of history and we’re in the middle of a lot of anniversaries right now. Last week marked 61 years since the loss of Medgar Evers, right there at his home—the same day that President Kennedy gave a national address on civil rights.  

I’m mindful that in a few days we’ll mark 60 years since President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. And I’m mindful that this is June 21st in Mississippi, and that 60 years ago today, something terrible happened in Philadelphia that cried out for justice for decades, but also helped to focus America’s intention on what had to change. 

As we bear the moral weight of our inheritance, it feels a little bit strange to be talking about streetlights and ports and highway funding and some of the other day-to-day transportation needs that we’re here to do something about.  

And yet, part of why we are doing this work is that we know that even the most superficial examination of the legacy of the civil rights movement reminds us of the relationship between transportation and equality. 

And the fact that equitable transportation has always been one of the core commitments, and for that reason has also always been one of the most important battlegrounds, of the struggle for racial and economic justice and civil rights in this country. 

Homer Plessy sat in the “white” car of the East Louisiana Railroad. Medgar Evers called for a boycott of gas stations that wouldn’t allow Black customers to use their facilities. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, of course, to a white man on a Montgomery bus. 

Transportation is so elemental to all of our lives that disparities in access to transportation affect everything else: education, economic opportunity, quality of life, safety.  

And when access to transportation is not equitable, the consequences penetrate into every aspect of the lives of people and families and neighborhoods. 

The reality is that here in Jackson, decades of underinvestment and disinvestment in this city’s infrastructure have been felt most acutely by the Black community.  

Poorly maintained roads and sidewalks, public transit stops not clearly marked, or without sufficient seats for waiting or shelter from the weather, have made it harder for people to move about their days and added time or distance to that basic daily rhythm of life: getting to school, getting to work, buying groceries, going to the doctor. People’s lives were made more difficult, one commute or one day at a time, in ways that add up enormously over time. 

We’re here to do something about that.  

Naming these facts and facing these disparities is not something that this Administration has taken on as an exercise in guilt and blame, or out of interest in dwelling on the past. Rather it is the awareness that naming these harms and understanding our inheritance is a first step toward making things better.  

And in this Administration, we are doing a lot more than just acknowledging our inheritance. We are taking action to build and rebuild our infrastructure so that it serves all people – fairly and equitably. 

That’s why we are here. And that is why, on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration, I’m honored to be here to celebrate the $20 million award for the Medgar Evers Boulevard Project. 

This is such exciting and much-needed work, the repairs. And finally undertaking this is particularly fitting on a thoroughfare that bears the name of somebody who shaped the course of our country. 

This is a compelling project— and I should note that this came out of a program where about ten times as much funding was sought from around the country as we were able to give, even with that generous funding in the infrastructure package.  

So to have succeeded in that highly competitive process, this community has a great deal to be proud of. 

These improvements will make it easier to travel between neighborhoods, to access medical services and commercial centers in other parts of the city. It will feature new sidewalks, crosswalks, and streetlamps that will make it safer for pedestrians to safely get around.  

And updates to the road itself are happening, including things you might not ever see— water and sewer lines are being installed and improved stormwater drainage. And as I know the Congressman would agree, only a mayor can love good stormwater drainage in the way that we do. 

This investment in physical mobility along the Medgar Evers Boulevard is about economic mobility too. There are construction jobs, of course, just in getting it done. But also, the improved transportation along that mile and a half stretch of road means a safer, more efficient way to get to work, to pursue careers and opportunities that build wealth that can be passed from one generation to the next. 

As I mentioned, this is just one of the many important projects happening across Mississippi because of this infrastructure law and Congressman Thompson’s support. Down in Laurel, the roads and streets are undergoing major upgrades to make them safer for everyone who uses them.  

The Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Columbus is modernizing an air traffic control tower. And passenger rail service will be restored along the Gulf Coast, between Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, for the first time since service was suspended after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We saw what was going on with 82 up to Yazoo, I-10 down by the Gulf, just to name a handful. 

And what all of these projects have in common—fifty thousand and counting across the country, including hundreds in Mississippi—is not one of them was invented at the U.S. Department of Transportation Headquarters in Navy Yard in Washington, DC.  

All of them came from communities, and we support them based on the philosophy that the answers are not going to come from Washington, but more of the funding should—and now it is.  

And I would add that this even goes beyond transportation. We put $5.4 billion into projects in Mississippi that include replacing lead pipes to make sure water is safe. Providing affordable, reliable internet so that people can connect to education and jobs. And keeping the cost of health care premiums down thanks to the Affordable Care Act. 

So, there is a lot to celebrate, and there is a lot to do. There's so much work ahead, and we’re mindful that, as the congressman reminded us diplomatically, this is a downpayment.  

We’ve got a lot more to do. But what you see up here is not just a roadway—it is a message.  

It is a message to this community, and every community that saw its beating heart—its downtown or its key neighborhoods—evacuated.  

That instead, in the future, we are here to help make sure those neighborhoods are invigorated.  

And having seen the passion, the energy, the commitment, and the legacy, that is on display in this place, there is no doubt in my mind that this will be a national example.  

Thank you again. 

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