The Flint water Crisis, which began in 2013 has been recoginized its connection to enviormental racism. The crisis highlights historical systems os inequalties, particularly in marginalized comminties. Understanding these systems can help identify why authorties responded the way that they did after the community expressed their stress.
Literature Review:
Post World War II there was a push for rapid urbanization and urban development in Flint Michigian .Leading to a rise in white American families moving to the outskirts of the cities and minority families being pushed to the inner cities. Due to governmental segregation practices, African American families lacked the ability to access to quality housing and employment during the rise of development in Flint Michigan ( Foote&Leon, 2023,354)
Flint authorities signed a long term contract with the Detroit Water and Sewage Department in hopes of proper water supply for the community. At this time Detroit got their water supply from Lake Huron. In 2011 Flint was under emergency financial management. Resulting in the water supply being switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River (Mohai,2018,37)
Residents of Flint were assured that the water was safe to drink after residents voiced their distress in the discoloration in their water. It was not until a local pedestrian found increases in children's blood levels since the Flint Water Crisis. (Morkel,2020,585). This was the first time that local authorities took note of residents' concerns since the water supply switch.
The Enviormental Justice Theory
We can apply the environmental justice theory to understanding why decisions were made the way that they were in Flint Michigan. The environmental justice theory is made up of distribution,representation,and recognition. Applying this theory involves the improper distribution of environmental treatment and harm to minoritized populations, due to these historical injustices. Early work on environmental justice pushed beyond many boundaries; it pushed beyond the meaning of environment. The distribution of the injustices and inequalities that are illustrated in a community (Schlosberg,2013,28). Recognition in the environmental justice theory refers to the lack of recognition by the local authorities. The less recognition a community feels by authorities, the more oppressed the community becomes. Recognition leads to how communities feel represented. Throughout the process of the Flint Water Crisis, the community was never equally represented or aware of environmental changes that were happening in the city. Not only was the community not encouraged to engage in decision making, but they were shut down by trusted authorities when they did try to engage.
Research Question : Why is this important?
The purpose of my research is to be able to understand how historical systems of innequalties contributed to the expieriences of Flint residents during the Flint Water Crisis, and how these inequalities influenced the response from authorties. Understanding the historical inequalities in the Flint community that contributed to the Flint Water Crisis gives people the chance to be aware of these inequalities as they happen. We are not able to make changes in the future without understanding historical systems. When the public becomes aware of these systems, it gives the public an opportunity to voice to their local authorities their own concerns about certain inequalities they may have experienced.
Understanding the historical inequalities in the Flint community that contributed to the Flint Water Crisis gives people the chance to be aware of these inequalities as they happen. We are not able to make changes in the future without understanding historical systems. When the public becomes aware of these systems, it gives the public an opportunity to voice to their local authorities their own concerns about certain inequalities they may have experienced.
References:
Foote, A., & de Leon, C. (2023). Origins of the flint water crisis: Uneven Development, Urban Political Ecology, and racial capitalism. City & Community, 22(4), 352–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/15356841231207626
Goodman, W. H. (2018). Flint, water and race: proving racial intent in the flint water crisis. Journal of Law in Society, 18(2), 142-154. https://heinonline-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/jls18&id=251&men_tab=srchresults#
hoilifield , ryan. (2009). Spaces of Environmental Justice: Frameworks for Critical Engagement. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/32320898/HolifieldPorterWalkerPostPrint_2009-libre.pdf?1391606286=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DIntroduction_Spaces_of_Environmental_Jus.pdf&Expires=1730321286&Signature=gY0GZRxH~6ZygfAFSnhsdAXgCoyIlzsNGn41KO1jaRknpIoNDfOxf9M4Xd-zrP1diIQt65607wUbVXtvrajelkte~NwoHX5XM-JSzYiSuQcBCjSB5wMcY5HLrctZNC~f8DYlf8bZ2Tr7cXFvD3sf7RVHOB2pNcbwh58QDKh9OU301ousPInVTXF0N5LjY0Cv7dQ7TLugY5qjbWiuLRSPwl3vB-VqoELAgccRVZgAkcMe38njtyuDbL9pLqzZg3~ktJiTWwivZgnpHTnNl3wcfc2ILmSHd1FvaP9Ks-NZpp2~EcrtmFrNIgodrsth9Pwdqi6rGd9LwM9OKbC3jXJnwQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA
Okunade, O. The Flint Water Crisis and the Perpetuation of Environmental Racism in Flint, Michigan (2014–2018). J Afr Am St (2024). https://doi-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1007/s12111-024-09666-5
Schlosberg, D. (2013). Theorising environmental justice: the expanding sphere of a discourse. Environmental Politics, 22(1), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2013.755387
Sobeck, J., Smith-Darden, J., Hicks, M., Kernsmith, P., Kilgore, P. E., Treemore-Spears, L., & McElmurry, S. (2020). Stress, Coping, Resilience and Trust during the Flint Water Crisis. Behavioral Medicine, 46(3/4), 202–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2020.1729085
Takahashi, B., Adams, E. A., & Nissen, J. (2020). The Flint water crisis: local reporting, community attachment, and environmental justice. Local Environment, 25(5), 365–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2020.174741