Secretary Pete Buttigieg Makes Fight Against ‘Systemic Racism’ Centerpiece of Transportation Department

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is waging a war on “systemic racism” from his new federal post.

Roll Call reported on Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana:

Criticized during his 2020 presidential bid for not adequately addressing systemic racism when he was mayor of South Bend, Ind., Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has now made the fight against that issue a centerpiece of his new job.

Buttigieg talks about the issue frequently. On Feb. 4, Transportation Equity Day — the birthday of Rosa Parks — he sent four tweets on the topic. He’s talked about it on MSNBC and CNN. Last week, he talked about it on a Zoom call with the African American Mayors Association.

In his appearances, Buttigieg is repentant for the federal government’s role in building a federal transportation system that frequently cut through Black and brown neighborhoods in order to build freeways, often cutting off Black and brown populations from economic opportunity.

“We recognize how misguided investments and missed opportunities for federal transportation policies have reinforced racial and economic inequality,” Buttigieg told the mayors’ group, according to Roll Call. “The wrong kind of investment can divide or isolate neighborhoods.”

Buttigieg may be using his department — best known for concrete and rails — to make amends with the more radical elements of the Democrat party.

During his failed campaign for president, Buttigieg was attacked by progressives activists over how he handled a police-involved shooting in South Bend.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists accused him of being “anti-black and anti-poor” during his tenure as mayor, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Racist police or racist Pete?” one protester’s sign read outside a campaign event.

More recently, BLM protesters fought his appointment.

“[W]e urge the rejection of our former mayor Pete Buttigieg, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Rhode Island, Governor Gina Raimondo for Transportation Secretary or any other cabinet position,” South Bend BLM leader Jordan Geiger said in December, according to Breitbart News.

BLM activists sought a meeting with Biden during the transition, but were rebuffed.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.