U.S. Racism And The Color of Water

The water crisis is only emblematic of a deeper and long entrenched system of oppression

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The current water crisis in Jackson, Miss had me wondering how it is possible for this to happen in these United States. I tried to find the answer in some of the published materials related to the subject.

Water is a basic existential necessity for human life. Access to clean and affordable water is therefore recognized as a human right. In 2002 The United Nations Committee on Economic, social and Cultural Rights adopted General Assembly Comment 15 affirming the human rights to water- “Everyone is entitled to sufficient safe/ acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use”.

Clean water and sanitation is one of the 17 UN sustainable development goals on its agenda 2030. It is a lofty goal and quite a challenge for many of the least developed countries (LDC) around the world. It comes as a surprise, however to find out that more than 2 million people in the wealthiest and technologically most advanced nation in the world have no running water or modern plumbing. African Americans and Latino Americans are twice as likely, and Native Americans 19 times as likely to have no full indoor plumbing.

The seminal research conducted by the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal and Educational Fund, Inc. issued a report titled- WATER/COLOR A Study of Race and the Water Affordability Crisis in America’s Cities-and arrives at two major conclusions.

1 A clear connection between racial residential segregation and Black access to water systems

2 Rising water rates are most likely to impact communities of color.

https://www.naacpldf.org/our-thinking/issue-report/economic-justice/water-color-a-study-of-race-and-the-water-affordability-crisis-in-americas-cities/

This brings me to Jackson, Mississippi. Water crisis in Jackson is not new. It has had water emergencies multiple times in the past -with water main break-downs and water treatment plant failings due to decaying infrastructure. Jackson, the political and cultural capital and the largest city in the state of Mississippi lost 11% of its population in the last decade. It is now 80% Black, poor Whites making the remainder. Its tax base has shrunk. Commenting on the current water crisis the progressive mayor of Jackson, Chokwe Lumumba cites “decades, decades and decades of possible 30 years or more of deferred maintenance, lack of capital improvement made to the system, a lack of human capital, a workforce plan..” leading inevitably to the current crisis. Jackson, as in many majority Black cities and towns has dangerously aging infrastructure.

The lack of access to clean water and waste disposal is not unique to cities alone. The rural communities of color have it worse. In one of those ‘believe it or not’ stories, 60 Minutes of CBS on Dec 19/2021 reporting from Lowndes County in Alabama, showed images of raw sewage running into the yards and even homes. Years of pleading with state officials by residents of the county to have access to waste disposal system have so far yielded no results. It is heartbreaking to watch. Yes, Jim Crow legacy is alive and well in the South. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alabama-sewage-disposal-60-minutes-2021-12-19/

When it comes to access to drinking water and sewage disposal, the North has not fared any better. Cities like Baltimore, Detroit and Cleveland have had their own problems but it is the Flint water crisis of 2014 that has captured the nation’s attention.

The Republican governor of Michigan then, Rick Snyder facing a budget crisis decided to save money by switching the Flint water supply from the Detroit Water Supply Department (source-Lake Huron) to Flint River. Flint residents began to notice change in the color, odor and taste of the water. The lead level was found to be 889 time more than the allowed level. Up to 12,000 children were exposed. High lead levels are known to cause decreased IQ and diminished intellectual functioning. It may also lead to Alzheimer’s disease down the road. The water was also contaminated with legionella, 12 people died 90 were sickened as a result of Legionnaire’s disease. The University Of Michigan School Of Public health charged that the state government officials “bear significant legal responsibility”.

On January 14/2021 the governor and 8 other officials were charged with 42 counts of crimes ranging from perjury to felony and misdemeanor. All charges were subsequently dismissed except for one minor conviction. The damage caused by such gross dereliction of duty and indifference to human life by state officials was as usual borne disproportionately by the poor and people of color-There is American justice for you. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/14/956924155/ex-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-and-8-others-criminally-charged-in-flint-water-crisi

It is going to cost several billions of dollars to fix the decrepit water infrastructure in Jackson and similar cities across America. It would be interesting to see how much of the much ballyhooed bipartisan infrastructure bill will be allocated to address this crisis that invariably affects communities of color. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/03/26/in-jackson-miss-a-water-crisis-has-revealed-the-racial-costs-of-legacy-infrastructure/

Adding insult to injury, the body of water near Jackson is called Ross Barnett Reservoir, named after the arch white supremacist, former governor who nearly reignited a second civil war in his attempt to keep first Black student, James Meredith from enrolling at the University of Mississippi in 1962.

Access to clean water and access to sewage disposal in communities of color are intricately connected to segregation and environmental racism. Color, as in every aspect of American life, has also permeated the politics of the most basic of human rights by racializing the otherwise colorless essential commodity.

Centuries of enslavement followed by Jim Crow laws in the South aimed at dis-enfranchising African Americans, systematic discrimination in housing- redlining making it difficult for African Americans to own homes in areas of their choice, discriminatory lending and insurance practices-has resulted in segregated neighborhoods with poorly funded schools, health facilities and municipal services thus ensuring the persistence of inequity across generations.

The water crisis is only emblematic of a deeper and long entrenched system of oppression and does not lend itself to piecemeal solutions, fixing emergencies here and there. An honest policy to begin to solve these issues will require confronting head on the malignant ideology of white supremacy, address the societal ills it has caused across generations throughout the existence of the republic and finally redress through proper reparations. Then and only then can we begin to heal as a nation that would be true to its purported ideals.

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