Civic Cipher 090322 Environmental Racism in Mississippi (Part 1)

show and we really want to do it right. And I won't promise today will be the fully fleshed out segment that we really want to bring to you, but we will definitely delve into it to a significant degree because it is timely and we have to deal with some stuff that's going on in Mississippi where a predominantly black community is going without drinking water. This is a story we've seen time and again in this country, So environmental racism stick around to that. We're also going to

talk about the minor. There's a video that has gone viral and in case you haven't seen it, there's a Myer nerd that was riding an ATV police tried to pull them over. The miner says that he didn't know that that was what was going on initially, and then when he found out, then he was afraid and kept driving, and then they proceeded to pull him off of his ATV and beat him up and kick him and all this sort of stuff. And he's twelve years old, and so we're going to talk about that. That that's kind

of a sad story. And you know, a common motif around here because we often mentioned that black children have to grow up before their time, and this is an example of how the world seems to make Black children into adults well before they're ready. Our way Black history fact, we're going to talk about the Chicago race riot and much much more. So a lot in store for you. Be sure to stick around once again.

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for putting on this event. Now, environmental racism, so that if you have never heard that before, it sounds crazy. How can an environment be racist?

related racism, or you know educational racism, you know healthcare racism. Well, this is environmental racism, in other words, something that affects a predominantly black, brown, poor, poor, black and brown oftentimes community where laws are bent and broken so that corporations can dump, so that cities can grow, or you know, imminent domain or whatever, and it disproportionately affects black and

brown people. You know, it factors into the health of black and brown people, especially when you're dealing with pollutants in the air or in the ground, so forth and so on. This is a real thing. It's well documented and it goes all the way back to even before fair housing was a talking point in this country for black and brown people. Because environmental environmental racism is something that very much shapes outcomes with respect to the black family.

The latest instance of environmental racism has come up in Jackson, Mississippi. So I will share a bit with you. This one comes via Routers. Jackson, Mississippi, will go without reliable drinking water indefinitely. Okay, So this is from officials on Monday, August twenty ninth, after pumps at the main water treatment plant failed, leading to the emergency distribution of bottled water and tanker trucks for one hundred and eighty thousand people.

The city linked the failure to complications from the flooding of the Pearl River, but Governor Tate Reeves, who declared a state of emergency, said the cause was unknown and that the city one run water treatment plant had been poorly operated and understaffed for years. All right, let's stop right there now. Maybe I'm crazy, Maybe I'm crazy, but I remember a story about Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, and you know, the levees needed maintenance and they were understaffed

and underfunded, and on and on and on. But if you look at places where, let's say, the population is not so colorful, you know, these sorts of things tend to be prioritized. These things don't get pushed off, you know. Now there have been some notable exceptions I'm well aware of, you know, in California, all those mansions and all those fires being started because of poor maintenance of electricity poles

and that sort of stuff. But by and large, we can point to a systemic issue that disproportionately affects black and brown people. So this is one of the tell tale signs, but it doesn't tell the full story because lots of things are poorly maintained. We're going to take into account how we get there, and then, of course what the response is afterwards. And then I think those things, combined with other factors, will suggest to you whether or

not something is an example of environmental racism. I'll continue. In any case, the capital city of one hundred and fifty thousand people and thirty thousand in surrounding communities could go without running water indefinitely. As official warned, anyone with access to tap water should boil it for three minutes. Quote, we need to provide water for up to one hundred and eighty thousand people for an unknown period of time.

Please stay safe, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said at the evening briefing Jackson, the state capital is more than eighty percent black or African American, so that is also key. Eighty percent black or African American according to US Census data. Again, do not drink the water, Reeves told a hastily called news conference. In too many cases it is raw water from the reservoir being pushed through the pipes. The city said.

Recent flooding of the Pearl River created complications at the Obie Curtis Water Treatment Plant, which sits next to a reservoir that drains into the river just north of town. The town has been under a boiled water alert for a month. Reeves said that the motors powering the plant's pumps went out recently, leaving it to operate on backup pumps, which failed on Monday. State would establish an incident command center at the plant early Tuesday, hoping to re establish operations. Now, cute,

I want to ask you something. In the United States of America, have you ever heard of people not getting clean tap water from their sinks and having to boil their water. Has that been a story that you've ever heard about in this country outside of Mississippi, outside of the story we're talking about today. Unfortunately, yes, you've heard this story. But boiling the water as the solution is

the part that stands out to me. Oh okay, I hadn't heard especially one's government instruct its people to just boil the water for a few minutes. So, okay, I'm glad you said that, because I want to lean into that for a second. But we do have to get back to the main point because I got some real important questions to ask. But does it seem like that's kind of a lackluster effort to remedy the problem? Because you're so kind, I'm just asking you know, this is

a question I would sure I'll go with lackluster. Okay, So let's flip this around. Let's say, for instance, in Mississippi the population is eighty percent white, just to pick a race, could you imagine a governor coming forward and saying that we have a problem. There is no solution on the horizon, and there you will have to boil water indefinitely. Could you see that happening in a community like that.

Then this country has failed to deliver on that promise. Side note, I had a conversation on my other show, the Black Information Network Daily Podcast. I wute you to check it out. It's on iHeartMedia on the iHeart platforms, and I was talking about this very thing, the failure of the government to keep its promise to the people. And I was doing a discussion about the what is it the student loans, So the student loan relief by

Joe Biden. You know, there's obviously a lot of Republican opposition to that, and I heard a lot of talk work points, right, but I heard a lot of talking points about this. But you know, one talking point that I didn't hear was that, well, let's take into account what does the government. First off, what is the government supposed to do? And my point was, you decide what the government is and what it should do based on how you vote. And then what is the government's commitment

to the people, you know what I mean? And for that answer, we can look at what the government has promised the people in addition to what it is we want from our government, the voters, we the voters. And the connection that I made that I didn't see made anywhere else in popular meat. Yeah ways, I connected it with trickle down economics, which was something that you know, our conservative facet of this country has sold to the

masses as being something that will work. Let's make sure the rich guys get richer, so that this wealth will trickle down to the middle class. Right, And we have a now a forty to fifty year experiment that's been running, and we've seen after the thirty year mark that it does not, in fact produce a stronger middle class, does not lift up poor people. The wealth gap is wider than it's ever been, and the richest people in this country have concentrated all that.

robbing us all blind us, we the people. So because the government has to take responsibility for what the government promised to the people, if that responsibility is, hey, you know what that trickle down economics thing that didn't really work out, and you went to school, and you got loans to go to school, and you studied hard, and you went out and you got a job, and you find yourself not having that American dream that says I can have a house, two cars in the garage to

stay at home spouse, and I can go on vacation twice a year, and I can afford to take care of a couple of kids. Since you can't do that with that college degree, we should probably get you back on that college degree. Dad.

treated badly. But I want to continue, Q. Can you name the city that had a problem with their water.

that are predominantly black don't miss the mark. They just have not gotten to the point where they're doing this for an indefinite amount of time, you know, et cetera. That's not to say that other places where the black population makes up a significant amount of the population is not adversely affected in other ways. Maybe it's not water, maybe it's you know, another thing, right, But I think

that these things again point to environmental racism again. One day me and Maggan Q will sit down and really flesh this out for you. But we have to talk about I just I just, you know, thank you for listening every week. I appreciate you listening every week. I know that we have to talk about this stuff. And the truth is, if you're listening to me, I reckon you, my sister, I reckon you, my brother. We're gonna get

through this together. But this is the sort of thing that I cannot see happening unless we're talking about black people. If it's a black city, Katrina. People were going to stores trying to get relief, trying to get food, trying to get whatever. And yes, there were some people trying to get whatever. Sure, I'll give you that, but you know how many people the police shot? How many? You know? I don't even want to go into that. But I saw that happen. I was in five when I first

got in the radio. I saw it happen. And we all know Kanye got on TV and he said what he said about George Bush. He should have said poor people that too, right, But the thing is, it feels like more often if a person is poor and white, there is more empathy for the person, for the family, for the community, well individually, sure, like if someone's having a converse with we're looking at.

a greater black population. That's the way this thing was set up. If it's affluent, it's going to have a greater white population. It was set up that way on purpose. It has flourished in that manner for its entire history. Sure, so we don't need the specific data to point to the specific place. There's no opposite of it. You're not going to call us like, hey, there was this one time in bel Air where there was no drinking water.

this could happen in our city. This is you know, it's not something that is beyond the realm of possibilities. But the response to it and the reaction to it just kind of seems lackluster. And again the connection that I slash we are making is that eighty percent black kind of checks out. And because we have to talk about those things here, here's your conversation. Now, I do want to also mention something else. So this comes via

the Well News. Detroit residents ask Congress to eliminate environmental racism. Residents of the Detroit area suggested Thursday during a congressional hearing that the Biden administration take care of environmental racism before celebrating its recent successes against climate change. They are concerned about manufacturing and hazardous waste processing plants that emit pollution, particularly in their neighborhoods with predominantly minority and immigrant populations. Quote.

Our community has been disregarded, said Robert Schob, a Detroit resident, who reports respiratory problems from the nearby Stalantes plant. Here he goes again, quote everything is based off of finance instead of people. He added, I don't go outside as much these days to avoid the odor of plants as well as coughing and chest pain. This plant is making us sick. The Subcommittee on Environments called areas where Americans fill their health is sacrificed for the profits of corporate polluters,

sacrifice zones. The Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA, is supposed to control high pollution industries through the permitting processes it administers under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

But again, even in Queue's city of his birth, and again there's a lot of black folks there, it just kind of seems like, eh, you know, it's kind of got to deal with it, and it moves slow, and people are kind of not concerned, and then we end up with these outcomes that affect health, quality of life, property values, mobility in society, things like this. Environmental racism is another sort of invisible force that we have to

deal with as a Black community. Now again, I'm not trying to complain about ramses Ques, not trying to complain about q but we have to bring issues to the forefront so that if you have never heard of these things, you at least are aware that they exist. A and B. We're not crazy, We're not nobody wants to just complain all the time. Nobody like who you know. We're hard workers, we don't want anything free. We're men, you know what I mean. And Maggie's woman, you know, so we like

as an adult woman, you know. So.