Posts

The Flint Water Crisis

The Flint Water Crisis was a major systemic and environmental injustice that occurred in the state of Michigan. It all began when the city of Flint switched its drinking water from the Detroit Michigan water system to the Flint River to save more money. However, they failed to treat the water, resulting in poisoned drinking water for the Flint community. When they informed the government about the issue, it was brushed off and disregarded. The poisoned water affected the community immensely, not only did it affect children’s blood levels but the water was “foul-smelling, discolored, and off-tasting that caused skin rashes, hair loss and itchy skin.” (nrdc.org) The Michigan Civil Rights Commision started to put the pieces together and came to the conclusion that this crisis was a systemic injustice. The racism played in this crisis was just as major as the water itself. The Flint community was targeted because Flint is a low income community with more than 60% of the population being people of color. Which makes this issue more interesting because it is said that Black children are more likely to suffer from asthma than any other race. These families are worried about how this water will affect their children in the future. As a girl from Michigan, I was upset and disgusted with our state and their ignorance to fix the water pollution issue. I related this issue to many topics we have talked about this term. The one that stood out to me the most is the topic of “Othering”  by Simone de Beauvoir’s this topic goes hand in hand with the Flint water crisis because it shows who is one and who is other. “Other” being the Flint community as they are targeted a low income black community. The “One” is Michigan’s government who is of high power and above the small community of Flint. Othering resembles systemic injustices and specifically the Flint Water Crisis because it shows the empowerment overheld by people of high powers. Out of all the systemic injustices I have talked about this year, the Flint Water Crisis really stood out to me because I am from Michigan and black lives were targeted in a fatal way.

 

 

 

 

This is a photo showing how contaminated the Flint water was. This image can put into perspective of how the Flint community felt for 18 months of drinking this water. 

 

Works Cited: 

Flint’s water crisis: What went wrong. (2016, January 16). Retrieved October 24, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/16/flints-water-crisis-what-went-wrong

 

Race and Ethnicity in Flint, Michigan (City). (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2020, from https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Michigan/Flint/Race-and-Ethnicity

 

November 08, 2. (2020, May 01). Flint Water Crisis: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved October 24, 2020, from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know

 

Bosman, J. (2020, August 20). Michigan to Pay $600 Million to Victims of Flint Water Crisis. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/flint-water-crisis-settlement.html