Hi,
It's me, and we need to talk about Flint.
We are 1,491 days into the water crisis, and Flint still does not have clean water. Let that sink in, 1,491 days.
1,491 days have passed and Flint still does not have clean water.
This is a reminder that clean water is used to police and control people of color, from Palestine, Flint, to Standing Rock.
This is a reminder that the Standing Rock oil pipeline was rerouted from a white neighborhood in North Dakota to destroying Native American land and poisoning their water source instead.
This is a reminder that it is a federal offense to steal Native American treaty land but apparently the feds can get away with a federal offense, and the feds can choose whose water they want to protect and whose they want to destroy.
This is a reminder that race is the best predictor on whether or not you will live near pollution and therefore, it is no surprise that Flint has not had clean water for over 1,491 days.
This is a reminder that this is the definition environmental racism. This is an exact example of how people of color and low-income communities are most likely to be situated near sources of contamination and away from clean water, air, and soil.
This is a reminder that Israel deliberately denies Palestine control over their water supply, and deliberately denies thousands of Palestinians access to water - affecting their health, affecting their crops, affecting their food, and affecting their work.
This is a reminder that using discriminatory water sharing agreements is illegal and is a tool of control.
This is a reminder that while Palestinians are suffering, while Flint is suffering, while Native American gravesites and sacred lands are being torn open and their water is being polluted, this discrimination would have never happened in a white neighborhood.
This is a reminder that Governor Snyder, the same Governor who plays a role in the contamination of Flint to begin with, ended the Free Bottled Water program just two months ago. As if that is not bad enough, residents are expected to pay for the contaminated water they have been poisoned with. Residents of Flint are expected to pay for their own death.
This is a reminder that these are acts of violence against people of color and they are deliberate. They are a tool to weaken people of color, to stop Palestinians, Native Americans and Black folk from uprising against a system that discriminates against them.
1,491 days and counting, this is a reminder that Flint does not have clean water. This is a reminder to think about it. This is a reminder to talk about it. This is a reminder to do something about it.
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