Scars of Racism: Telling the Story via Drone

Travis Fox, the Director of Visual Journalism at CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, was inspired by Ta-Nehisi Coates' piece "The Case for Reparations" and decided that he wanted to help tell the story of systemic racism in the USA. But instead of telling the story from the ground, he took to the skies with his drones to show how practices like redlining of neighborhoods have created visible marks on the landscape. Rich neighborhoods abut impoverished ones by a single road, flood zones filled with low income housing, and highways that flow through impoverished areas with no ability to build a political fight.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred recorded at Photoville 2019, Sarah and Allen interview Travis about the impetus for the project, why a middle-aged white man is telling the story, and the future of drones in storytelling. It's an episode you won't want to miss.