(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) In the wake of the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, CNN has suggested that the reason for the natural disaster was “systemic and environmental racism.”
Water pumps at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant failed after severe storms flooded a local river. The rising waters caused low water pressure and increased risk of bacterial infection.
According to The Daily Wire, federal- and state-level government officials have announced a state of emergency as many residents of the state’s capital do not have access to drinkable water.
Some are under the impression that the general economic decline of Jackson is a reason for the crisis, as the population of the city has plummeted in the last couple of years. Political turmoil has also been pointed to as a problem—Jackson has had eight mayors since 1997, including two who died in office.
CNN, however, is insistent that “systemic racism” is what caused this crisis and turmoil.
“Advocates have previously pointed to systemic and environmental racism as among the causes of Jackson’s ongoing water issues and lack of resources to address them,” CNN reported, noting that the Mississippi legislature is “majority white” while the population of Jackson is largely “black.”
CNN claimed that “white flight” is the reason for the city’s population decline and blamed the state’s majority-white, Republican-controlled legislature for preventing an upgrade of the city’s water system.
Several other articles along these lines were published on the news site, decrying Republican government officials for not “invest[ing] in Jackson because of who lives there.”
“How could a state ignore the needs of the residents of its capital city and allow things to deteriorate to this point?” wrote one CNN columnist. “The answer as I see it is simple: racism.”
What the articles and columns do not mention is that every mayor of Jackson since 1997 has been black.
There is also no acknowledgement that, in a series of clerical issues, Jackson residents were either over or undercharged their water bills to help upgrade sewer lines, water treatment plants and water-sewer billing systems.
The unpaid bills prevented Jackson from repairing its water systems.
