Potable Water only for the Privileged: Environmental Racism

By now, the water crisis in Flint Michigan is on every one's radar. For nearly two years the city has been obtaining water from the Flint River after the city switched its water source from Lake Huron, yet people are still arguing over whom is to blame. The negligence of Governor Rick Snyder allowed this public health disaster to happen but also the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not take action to inform the residents of the lack in corrosion controls that put them at risk for lead contamination. This issue is not unique to Flint, or even Michigan; it goes far beyond the environmental disasters humans breed. It is a societal matter, with roots deeply embedded in the inhumane treatment of underprivileged, poor, or racialized groups in America.

Human rights activist Stephanie Gilley tweeted, “When rich white men purposely poison thousands of Americans and it's treated like natural disaster instead of terrorism...that's white male privilege.” Robert D. Bullard, Dean (School of Public Affairs, Texas Southern University) stated that this crisis is, “a blatant example of environmental injustice...the more information comes out, the clearer it is that this community was not treated according to the usual protocols.” Not only is the crisis in Flint a crime of fraud in covering up the polluting of water but also of environmental racism and structural oppression. The acts are justified through racism that persists in the U.S. today. Historically, socially marginalized groups were limited in occupations and often took labor jobs that require them to perform difficult and/or messy occupational duties. The idea of ethnic “purity” is tied to cleanliness and hygiene which has become a central aspect of white identity justifying the injustice treatment of human beings. Today, the bigoted idea remains deeply ingrained in the national psyche and continues to shape social and environmental inequalities. This is perpetuated by powerful corporations and politicians, spreading the practice of exploiting politically vulnerable communities. Environmental racism refers to the tendency to burden marginalized groups with environmental problems.

African Americans in Flint who are subjected to lead-contaminated water are not alone, the Navajo people are being poisoned by abandoned uranium mines that are leaching into wells. The trauma and injustice those citizens are experiencing should not only outrage Pennsylvanians but lead us to examine our own water quality. Here in Pa, low-income residents and people of color in Pennsylvania are living near chemical dangers. The Center for Effective Government graded states based on the dangers faced by people of color and residents with incomes below the poverty line living within one mile of dangerous facilities, compared to white and non-poor people in these areas. Pennsylvania scored poorly with a “D” grade. Pennsylvania alone contains 354 high-risk facilities that are scattered across the state with the highest concentrations around the state’s major cities Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown.

Key findings from the report

• More than 1.1 million Pennsylvanians (nearly one in 10) live within one mile of a facility storing large amounts of extremely hazardous chemicals. These “fenceline communities” face potential chemical leaks and explosions on a daily basis

• Children of color under age 12 are twice as likely to live in the shadow of a hazardous chemical facility compared to white children.

• Poor American Indian children are nearly four times more likely to live near facilities than white children not in poverty.

Flint and Pittsburgh have economic history that is heavily industry based, today two factors are in play. Deindustrialization that has lead to urban decay and environmental contamination, secondly the long standing racial and economic inequality. This is biological civil warfare. Flint native, Michael Moore points out the atrocity, “…you cannot reverse the irreversible brain damage that has been inflicted upon every single child in Flint. The damage is permanent. There is no medicine you can send, no doctor or scientist who has any way to undo the harm done to thousands of babies, toddlers and children (not to mention their parents). They are ruined for life…”.

Quoting from The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II’s book, The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement, “William Douglass taught us back in the 19th century that power concedes nothing without a demand. Because power blinds broken human beings to injustice, the most powerful among us will always ignore and laugh at the cries of those who suffer. But when the balance of power tips far enough to threaten those who think that are in control...then those in power fight back. Their resistance is our confirmation that we are gaining ground. When they stop laughing and start fighting, you can be sure they are worried that you are winning.”

To combat these discriminatory practices. calls for work by the environmental justice movement as part of a broader group. History teaches us to see strength in coalition. Much like the First and Second Reconstructions, the forces fighting us on voting rights, educational equality, and racial disparities in the criminal-justice system are the same ones behind the attacks on LGBTQ rights. The advocates of huge tax cuts for the wealthy and greater burdens on everyone else are the same ones pursuing a new Jim Crow through voter-suppression bills and race-based redistricting. They are the forces refusing to expand Medicaid and driving the resegregation of our public schools. If these extremists are cagey enough to work together, we should be shrewd enough to unite against them. None of us can wait until our special issue is under fire and then try to rally the people.

Loren D. Edwards-Thompson is a Chatham University Senior and a Thomas Merton Center Intern working with the Environmental Justice Committee project.

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