Opposition to the highways was largely grassroots, spurred on by the slogan “White Men’s Roads Through Black Men’s Homes.” People lay down in the path of bulldozers and tied themselves to trees. The protesters make it clear that the outcome could have gone either way, since the highway proposal had been warmly supported by the D.C. power structure, including The Washington Post, The Evening Star, the Board of Trade, and “leading lights on Capitol Hill.” This establishment support for road building was the national norm, and, ultimately, no large East Coast city got off as lightly as Washington
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