Right to the Road

Car ownership is central to the U.S. culture wars about global warming and urban sprawl. While the environmental issues surrounding car use are well known, the car is also the focus of debates about urban redevelopment, racially biased policing, women's employment, immigration, homelessness, and disability rights. Right to the Road: How Marginalized American Motorists Fought to Drive and Park by Joseph A. Rodriguez discusses the central role of automobiles to determine how enforced automobile regulations have affected marginalized Americans both in the past and present day. Each chapter focuses on issues such as: Milwaukee's parking policies after World War II and urban redevelopment; Chicago's traffic and parking policies and the post-war rise in crime; white and Black women's increased employment post-war and the harassment they endured by police officers and motorists; the policing of Latino drivers and how anti-immigrant activists sensationalized automobile accidents to demonize Latinos as criminals; the disabled communities push for driving rights; the debates in cities and suburbs over the right to park overnight in safe parking spaces; and the use of the automobile and parking lots during the COVID-19 pandemic. This book highlights the various roles of the car in society throughout history.

A rich, no-holds-barred history of how the automobile shaped modern cities, for better or for worse. Joseph A. Rodriguez sensitively reveals how our most marginalized citizens have been victims of car culture and how they've fought back for their rightful place in our driving world.--Robert O. Self, Brown University, Wake up America! Car dependence is calamitous, in so many insidious ways, many of which you might not have thought about before reading this book. As Rodriguez shows, car catastrophe extends far beyond environmental impacts, leaving its heavy mark on a whole host of social concerns, from racially-based policing and failed urban redevelopment policies to homelessness and disability rights. The paradox is that while car dependence perpetuates a raft of problems, car drivers themselves are often the victims: over-zealous tow trucks, repair scammers, and criminals. This book should be required reading for urban policy makers of all stripes.--Emily Talen, University of Chicago

Joseph A. Rodriguez is professor of history and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.