People celebrate after the vote on the changing of the Mississippi State Flag in Jackson, Mississippi, the United States, on June 28, 2020. (Photo by Alan Chin/Xinhua)
"All this points to arguments activists have long made about racist power brokers diverting funds and other resources away from Black communities -- and the suffering this causes Black residents," says MSNBC.
NEW YORK, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cascading issues with the water supply in some of America's Blackest cities are demonstrating the downstream effects of years of neglect, reported MSNBC on Wednesday.
"Three cities in particular have been plagued with water issues lately that highlight inequality in how the public coffers are used," said the report.
In Jackson, Mississippi, residents had already been placed on a boil-water notice for weeks before flooding last month overwhelmed a water treatment facility, leaving the city of more than 150,000 people largely without running water for a week. The city, the largest in Mississippi, is more than 82 percent Black.
Baltimore, which is more than 62 percent Black, has been hit with infrastructure-based water troubles, as well. And residents at the Jacob Riis Houses, one of the largest public housing complexes in New York City, were made aware their water supply contained traces of arsenic on Friday.
"All this points to arguments activists have long made about racist power brokers diverting funds and other resources away from Black communities -- and the suffering this causes Black residents," added the report. ■
