The Systemic Failures of the Flint Water Crisis
Ava Byzewski
In Anna Clark’s The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and American Urban Tragedy, the Flint, Michigan water crisis began as a result of the combination of historical, political, and social circumstances. Clark’s perspective focuses on the injustices and failures that made the conditions for the crisis to occur and continue. Clark’s analysis identifies important causes of the crisis such as, systematic negligence, environmental racism, government incompetence, and the economic decline of the city of Flint. Clark examines the interconnectedness of these factors that paints a picture of how this crisis unfolded.
Prior to Flint’s water crisis the city’s economic slump and increasing disinvestment cultivated an environment for the crisis to occur. Flint became the center for auto manufacturing for General Motors, which was responsible for the city’s growth in population. Unfortunately, Flint’s economy was destroyed by deindustrialization in the late 20th century which led to General Motors shutting down many of its plants in Flint. This led to mass unemployment and an abrupt decline in the city’s population due to the massive white flight out of Flint. According to Clark, Flint’s tax base shrunk exponentially during this economic downturn making it almost impossible for the city to maintain its infrastructure. In fact, “Flint’s infrastructure was in a death spiral. The water rates were expensive because the pipes were bad because vacancy rates were high because the city had been shrinking for so long” (Clark 36). People who could not afford to leave the city were being crushed by the added expense that came from others leaving. Flint’s pipes (which had been put in at the beginning of the 20th century) were some of the oldest in the nation. This put the city at risk and state authorities’ enforcement of emergency management put financial restraint before the welfare of the city’s population, worsening Flint’s already dire situation. This continued disinvestment was revealed during the crisis according to Clark, “the disparities in the water traced a pattern of inequality and disinvestment that was decades in the making. The whole city was exposed to toxic water– and so were commuters and other visitors– but the people who had it worst lived in the poorer, more decayed neighborhoods. And they tended to be black.” (Clark 43). The residents of Flint that were black were treated differently by the government compared to the wealthier, predominantly white residents. This economic decline coupled with the systematic negligence creates a deeper understanding of the decisions that played into the water crisis.
A number of cost-cutting measures that put financial savings over public health were the core of Flint’s water crisis. The decision to change Flint’s water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) to the Flint River was primarily financial. Flint’s water rates were among the highest in the country, which posed a significant burden given that “42 percent of residents lived below the federal poverty level” (Clark 15). Due to Flint’s decreasing population and unstable financial situation, fewer ratepayers could afford the water infrastructure, creating further pressure on the economy. Clark describes how corrosion inhibitors are a common treatment that stops lead from leaking into drinking water and these inhibitors were not mandated by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Clark mentioned, “the city said again that the water met all safety requirements and that it was continually monitoring for potential power problems… But in fact, there was a problem. A serious one. New water treatment programs did not include corrosion control” (Clark 33). As a result of the corrosive water from the Flint river, the lead pipes in the city of Flint began to deteriorate leading to the introduction of hazardous quantities of lead into the water. After the switch to the Flint river the locals noticed a difference in the water quality right away. One example of the noticeable difference in particular Clark mentions is LeAnne Walters as she described the water as “coming out of the faucet looking like urine” and she shared the frustration of rashes and hair loss in her children” (Clark 65). Despite the complaints, state officials reassured local residents that the water was safe to drink. Clark argues that these decisions and reactions were representative of government neglect and incompetence.
One of Clark’s most important arguments of her analysis was the examination of environmental racism and how it influenced and exacerbated the crisis and the response. Clark uses Flint as an example of the effects of a marginalized community of Black and low-income residents that suffered from systematic neglect. Clark argues that this led to government officials’ dismissive attitude and lack of response to residents’ complaints. The practice of redlining by General Motors in Flint when providing housing for their employees. General Motors constructed homes and sold them to their employees; however, these homes were for white employees. In fact, “Racially restrictive covenants-an agreement, written into deeds, to keep people out based on race-were strictly enforced both in GM neighborhoods and throughout Flint” (Clark 45-46). This left the Black residents of Flint in the less desirable areas of Flint “And, in this self-fulfilling spiral, their houses generated less money in property taxes, which meant fewer resources to invest in school and infrastructure” (Clark 61). Many of the White residents left Flint after the shut down of most of the General Motors plants; this left many houses abandoned and without proper care the pipes were left to corrode. With disinvestment of these neighborhoods this left the Black residents of Flint more vulnerable. Additionally, the lack of urgency to support these deteriorating neighborhoods created a lack of accountability and transparency towards Flint residents. State officials originally dismissed reports by Flint residents of the inadequate water conditions that Clark refers to as “systematic disregard” for Black communities. Clark mentions how “between 1999 and 2004, black children across the country were 1.6 times more likely to test positive for lead than white children, and nearly three times more likely to have very high blood lead levels” showing the disregard for black communities (Clark 98). The human catastrophe of the crisis led to several health issues especially among children who were exposed to toxic levels of lead. This highlights how the lack of information and transparency left the residents of Flint exposed to toxic levels of lead. The structural racism that hampered Black citizens of Flint access to information and resources that could have reduced these health effects and or avoided the disaster. Flint’s environmental racism intensified Flint’s water crisis through the disregard for its community and discriminatory practices.
In Clark’s analysis of the Flint water crisis, she combines historical, political, and social circumstances that intensified the emergency. Through the combination of Flint’s economic downturn, cost cutting measures, and environmental racism through discriminatory practices that led to this catastrophe. Clark draws attention to the human cost of the crisis and its widespread ramifications. Serving as a warning about the repercussions of putting cheap policy in place over the health and welfare of the general public.
The Flint Water Crisis is historically significant because it exemplifies the consequences of systematic negligence, environmental racism, and the prioritization of cost cutting over public health. It demonstrates how historical patterns of segregation, deindustrialization, and government disinvestment can set the stage for a public health catastrophe. As residents and scientists worked together to expose the truth when authorities failed them, the crisis underscores the importance of civic accountability and grassroots activism. Flint’s narrative serves as a prism through which we may analyze broader patterns of injustice in American history and society.
The patterns in the Flint water crisis relate to historical practices like redlining and industrial decline to contemporary concerns like environmental justice, infrastructure decay, and systematic inequality, which would be appropriate to teach in secondary schools. It encourages critical thought on civic duty, race, class, and the function of government. Students would be able to comprehend what transpired in Flint and are better equipped to challenge the choices made by people in authority and recognize the importance of their voices in a democratic society.
References
Clark, Anna. The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy. Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
njcssjournal 