This path was created by London Jones. 

Hydronarratives: The Confluence of Water and Environmental Justice

Flint Water Crisis: Environmental Racism In Full Effect

What Happened?

For 50 years, Flint's water and sewage department had provided the city with clean drinking water. However, things changed when the city wanted to negotiate a new contract with Detroit Water. Flint decided to switch to a new water source from Lake Huron, but Detroit Water and Sewage did not agree. As a result of this disagreement, Flint's emergency manager decided to switch back to the Flint River. This decision led to the catastrophic Flint Water Crisis. For more in-depth details and experiences watch this documentary by clicking here 

The Flint Water Crisis was a prolonged and devastating event that lasted until 2019. The community of Flint is still grappling with the adverse effects of this crisis, including the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and the economic struggles faced by the community. What most people do not see is how environmental racism played a role in the Flint water crisis; it is not a coincidence that a place with a high population of black people would have their officials make irresponsible decisions made on their behalf.

The Timeline

To understand just how long addressing this crisis is, below is a detailed Timeline that includes the key essential events as well as the victims of the crisis, 


 

Who's To Blame?

The Flint Water Crisis went through a court case where multiple state officials were charged with different criminal activities regarding the crisis. Some were even arrested for trying to cover up the crisis so that no one would find out, which has caused some people their lives. Even outside of them being charged, there were so many complaints from residents way before the city considered the water to be hazard was ignored.

Why Is This Crisis Important? 

When the Flint Water Crisis is further examined, the realization that this event is not just a tragedy, but it is multiple acts of violence done to harm becomes apparent and it becomes something that everyone should know about in order to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future and to address current tragedies. When people can understand different forms of violence, they can have a name to put on the violence that themselves or others have faced. When naming something, it becomes real, it becomes visible, and this is the skill that anyone reading these pages will leave with.



 

Contents of this path:

This page has tags:

This page references: