Posted on 09/16/2022 12:47:06 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Carey Wooten spent nearly seven weeks hunting for safe drinking water for herself, her two children and three dogs after clocking out each day as a Taco Bell manager, so Gov. Tate Reeves’ announcement that the water is clean again in Mississippi’s capital came as welcome news.
Wooten said Friday that the liquid flowing into her kitchen sink still smells like sewage, but not as bad as before, and she’s glad she won’t have to run to distribution sites before their bottled water supplies run out each day.
Jackson had already been under a state health department boil-water notice for a month when torrential rain fell in August, flooding the Pearl River and overwhelming the treatment system. Water pressure abruptly dropped, emptying faucets for days.
How did this happen? Residents, politicians, experts and activists say systemic racism is the root cause.
Jackson’s population has declined since 1980, a decade after the city’s schools began integrating. Many white families left for the suburbs, leaving less revenue to maintain the infrastructure. Middle class Black people then moved out to escape urban decay and rising crime. State and federal spending never made up the difference.
“The legacy of racial zoning, segregation, legalized redlining have ultimately led to the isolation, separation and sequestration of racial minorities into communities (with) diminished tax bases, which has had consequences for the built environment, including infrastructure,” said Marccus Hendricks, an associate professor of urban studies and planning at the University of Maryland.
And when it comes to water scarcity and contamination, they say working-class communities of color are most vulnerable. Jackson’s population is more than 80% Black and the poverty level is 24.5%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Majority-Black Flint, Michigan, has struggled to remove lead from its water since 2014.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
If this were martha’s vineyard all those brown people would’ve been shipped out of town a long time ago.
Yeah, the African Americans in charge of Jackson cannot run the city.
The soft bigotry of lowered expectations claims another city full of victims.
What I heard was that there were 100 million dollars worth of unpaid water bills.
It’s always someone else’s fault
Its racist to flee black/Democrat cities and not submit to having your assets looted.
I certainly wouldn't pay my water bill if it smelled like sewer.
White Flight = Productive Flight regardless of race.
Being a Democrat means nothing is ever your fault.
It’s nearly impossible to find gallons of water in the stores now.
The stocker I talked to said that most of their water orders were being “rerouted” to the border for the “immigrants”.
Horse apples.
Chronology is your friend. The unpaid bills precipitated(came before) the problem with unsafe drinking water.
I see the Liars at Ass Press are at it again.
They don’t even want to go near any speculation that the money to maintain the system got embezzled.
It would not surprise me. You think the town is going to shut off water to welfare types for non-payment?
'Systemic Racism' is the answer when the problem is not segregation or discrimination. Look at this city of Jackson MS and look at its priorities. What did / does it do to attract business and internal tax revenue? What favoritism is evident in the spending of the city's coffers? Is that spending biased towards any identifiable group(s)?
How are the contractors vetted or measured? Is there a history of matching political contributions for contracts received? It is human nature to want to 'reward' your supporters but can it be done WHILE still getting the work done? Making a generic accusation of 'systemic racism' is a modern cop-out and a referral to "residents, politicians, experts and activists" is both insufficient and useless.
Reuters is the UK equivalent of the domestic AP, a news aggregator who follows the progressive zeitgeist.
Well, the governor said it's good to drink, so that settles that. Never mind what it smells like. Trust the gov, and drink up.
No, mismanagement and corruption is.
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