After the encounter in Scottdale, I needed to know two things:
Is the pattern of racial and cultural division along railroad tracks still present today?
How were railroad tracks used to define the neighborhoods along the 2 mile stretch I’d been photographing for months?
For the first objective, I found the Racial Dot Map—a visualization of every person in America as a single dot, color-coded by race using 2010 Census data. When I zoomed into Atlanta, the pattern was unmistakable. Railroad tracks consistently marked demographic dividing lines across the entire city.
This wasn’t coincidental. It was by design.
Regarding the second objective, I found several sources that helped me identify why certain neighborhoods were formed and how race, occupation, and financial status influenced all of them.
In this video, I share the research that transformed how I understand not just my photographs, but my entire city. Railroads and Atlanta grew up together—and segregation policies used those tracks as tools to enforce geographic division that persists today.
Related Links:
Part 3 of 6 | Coming next:
Tomorrow: Photo Essay examining the infrastructure as barrier—overpasses, fences, crossings that physically separate communities.
