Mississippi Faces Major Ecological Crisis

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Roy A. Adkins

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Louraine Bouraima, reporter

Jackson Mississippi is going through a massive water crisis, although this crisis is not new to the city of Jackson. Jackson is made up of 90% African Americans as its citizens, and that is not including the state of Mississippi, which is also a predominately Black state. I feel like this fact needs to be relayed because citizens are convinced that this crisis is a product of systemic racism. The water system in Jackson has been failing for years, but due to the intensity of the recent floods, the water plant crashed completely, leaving many without any water to shower, drink, or to even flush.  That’s right – number 2 ain’t going nowhere.

This whole situation has Governor Tate Reeves declaring it an “immediate health threat”. But others are saying that “this crisis was years in the making because of inadequate funding towards essential upgrades the city might need. For the past year, Black Democrats have asked for more additional funding from white Republicans who run the state.  Soon after on Thursday of last week, the city opened up water distribution sites all around the city to distribute water out to those who are even able to make the trek to go and receive the water, not to mention it cost $2 per gallon, so it’s also for those who can afford it. Residents are tweeting out their anger and suffering.  One popular tweet stated, “Our mayor thinks he’s Drake come save us” referring to Drake’s popular music video Gods Plan where he is seen handing out resources to the poorer communities.  So they believe the mayor is trying to do charity work to bypass the fact that there is still no running water. With the new resources coming out to help the city, residents are saying both the mayor and governor are throwing the blame around and no one is taking action, so they are visibly upset about their situation, and are saying that this is the cause of the past where the government Redlined the communities in Jackson that was populated by African Americans and cut off their recourses and half of the time wouldn’t even receive any help. Those places are now known as the so-called ghetto or are infamous for the poverty the people who live there have to go through. It seems that the leaders of the city of Jackson continue to disappoint its residents.  Let’s all continue to support those who are struggling in Jackson because one person’s struggle can also be another person’s chance to ease that struggle.