Salma Abdi Wins American Economics Association Essay Prize
The Department of Economics is delighted to announce that senior Salma Abdi has been awarded the Andrew Brimmer Undergraduate Essay Prize by the American Economic Association. Salma is an economics major, a research assistant at the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, alum of the Women in Economics program, and member of the Sadie Collective.
Salma’s essay, "Racist Infrastructure: Impact of the Interstate Highway System on Black Neighborhoods", critiques the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act, which displaced Black communities under the guise of urban renewal. In her essay, Salma discusses how the highway system used redlining and racial covenants to route highways through predominantly Black neighborhoods deemed “blighted.” Eminent domain allowed the government to seize homes from Black families at below-market prices without relocation support, stripping them of critical wealth-building opportunities in home equity.
Salma’s essay explores how the construction of the Interstate Highway System, compounded by pre-existing racist policies, undermined the financial well-being of Black Americans, stripping away opportunities for wealth-building and community growth. Specifically, the paper uses St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood as a proxy for highway construction displacement writ large.
As a Minnesotan, the topic of highway construction through the Rondo neighborhood was particularly close to home for Salma. “When you think of progressive states that have abundant opportunities for residents, you think of Minnesota, yet it also has one of the worst racial disparities in opportunity for its Black residents."
When asked what inspired her to write about this topic, Salma said, “I’m very interested in the long-term impact of public policy choices, and the environmental health and generational wealth of Black Americans has been continually impacted by the Federal Highway Act of 1956.” For Salma, the essay was not just about calling attention to the wrongs of the past, but demonstrating how those policy choices continue to have adverse effects on Black economic wellbeing. “I hope that when people read my essay they realize that when any community is denied opportunities for growth, we deny opportunities for everyone.”
Despite the challenges brought on by the Highway Act, Salma believes that economists have a unique role to play in righting former wrongs. “Economics can be a tool for positive change because economics is not just numbers, not just quantitative data, it’s understanding why people make the decisions they do. In that way, economists who use culturally competent evidence are best placed to develop solutions for the people that need it most.”
After graduation this spring, Salma intends to pursue a PhD in Public Policy and Economics.
Written by Whitney Oachs
