The water crisis in Flint, Mich., has not only sparked outrage from its citizens, it has gone viral and is now a top news story across the globe.
Last week, white militia men, armed and dressed in camouflage, arrived in the city, claiming they were there to protect protesters. Meanwhile, several major corporations, including Walmart and Coca-Cola, plan to distribute truckloads of water, and MSNBC has scheduled a town hall meeting, moderated by Rachel Maddow, for Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, the finger pointing and blame continues, with Gov. Rick Snyder and other public officials scrambling to tamp down accusations as they seek to remove the taint that some are viewing in Katrina-like proportions.
Unless you’re just returning with Matt Damon from Mars—and even Damon has called for the arrest of the governor—you may have missed a story that broke a few weeks ago about the contaminated water in Flint, a city of nearly 100,000 about 60 miles north of Detroit. Many in the nation were made aware of the crisis during a recent Democratic presidential debate when Hillary Clinton voiced her concern, stating that if the murky, contaminated waters had presented a danger in the white suburbs of Detroit, there would have been a prompt and thorough reaction from the state.
Since then, hardly a news outlet in the nation has been remiss on coverage of the calamity that has tragic implications for thousands, particularly the majority African-American population and its children. Time magazine put a Black child on the cover of a recent issue, showing the ill-effects of the contaminated water.
Also in motion are several class-action lawsuits from victims of the bad water, although information on their developments have not been as timely and exhaustive as other reports about the situation.
Flint Community Schools’ superintendent Bilal Tawwab told the Detroit Free Press that he was grateful for the outpouring of water donations from the major corporations. “With their generous support, district students will have access to clean drinking water and, more importantly, the ability to focus on their education.”
We are not sure the extent to which the students in Detroit will be able to focus since Darnell Earley, now the emergency manager of the city’s school system, was formerly the emergency manager in Flint and oversaw the switch of receiving water from Detroit to a cheaper source from the polluted Flint River.
Earley’s arrival in Detroit and his new assignment were met with protests, particularly from members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers union. “Get out of Detroit, Earley,” was among the chants that greeted him.
If such chants had been voiced effectively in Flint, perhaps the problem there now would not exist.