RE: Civil Rights Commission Says Systemic Racism Contributed to Flint Water Crisis
A Civil Rights Commission adding potential future racial tensions to the mix by conveniently (for funds?) evoking ''systemic racism'' as the main culprit of a health crisis? Do you really think the lead in water discriminates between which households' pipes it goes through? Maybe the ''white privilege'' boogeyman saw the 37.4% White, 0.5% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races as only collateral damage when trying to punish its 56.6% African American target. So, if I understand correctly, it's a generational story of structural harm & hardships, according to their report. I wonder then, how they would explain the systemic discrimination in the context of the three generations back numbers (non-Hispanic Whites were 35.7% of the population in 2010, compared to 70.1% in 1970)? White flight leaving (or taking) their ''entitlements'' behind (or with them) combined with black lives flocking where it supposedly didn't even mattered back then? What I'm saying is that their ''it's been a race problem for decades'' conclusion doesn't make sense. Where is the proof of organized racist wrongdoing?
Source for stats:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan#Demographics
Lead does not discriminate, but demographics absolutely plays a role in the enforcement —or lack thereof—of environmental laws and regulations. Just research the makeup of populations living within a 5-mile radius of superfund sites.
This is an article I read about a year ago that I find pretty convincing. It was arguing the Flint fiasco is a case of ''Keynesian stimulus project gone wrong'':
And for the populace generational hardships: ''crony capitalism''?
http://reason.com/blog/2016/01/25/the-flint-water-crisis-is-the-result-of
To be fair, I have to admit it's the only article I've read on the topic.