EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE NEEDED IMMEDIATELY FOR FLINT, MICHIGAN
Dear President Biden,
I am writing this letter to you as a last resort because Flint, Michigan desperately needs your help!
Flint has been abandoned for 10 years by their local government, the state government, and the federal government.
Everyone by now has heard of Flint’s water disaster in 2014, and the eyes of the world, and the heart of the nation, was turned to Flint, MI for a brief moment in time when it was discovered that Flint’s water system was poisoned when toxic lead-filled water had been sent through the water pipes of Flint, and into people’s homes.
But what most people don’t know now, 10 years later, is that the water in Flint has not been fixed, and that the people of Flint are still suffering with dirty water. Why is this? Because the powers that be want the world to think that the water has been fixed because they have a vested interest in people’s ignorance and disinterest in what’s going on in Flint 10 years later. And, because they think that people don’t care because Flint is a poor community, and a majority Black community, therefore, they can get away with the continued assault on the health and safety of the residents of Flint.
And I’m starting to think that they are right, because we often hear that people have “Flint fatigue.” That people are just tired of hearing about Flint’s problems, especially when it doesn’t affect them personally. And because of this, the current local and state government can continue to mislead the residents, and the world, into thinking that Flint is fine while they continue their diabolical plan to wipe out the city of Flint from its current residents so that they can build a new and better Flint, without the “riff raff” that are currently taking up space in Flint now.
Why is this acceptable? Why is this allowed to go on? Why do the people of Flint have to continue to suffer and be violated over and over again while everyone looks away, including the federal government? Because they are poor? Because they are predominantly Black? Because no one gives a darn about their health and well-being? Because to us they really don’t matter?
To give a brief synopsis of what happened in Flint with the Flint Water Crisis, let’s take a walk down memory lane. In 2014, the residents in Flint started suspecting something was wrong when they started seeing brown dirty and smelly water coming out of their taps. And when they started getting rashes on their body, and noticing thinning of their hair when they used the water. This is also the water they used to cook with, and that they drank straight from their tap. But when they noticed a distinctly foul taste when they drank the water, they knew something was wrong.
The people started immediately complaining about their water, and started complaining to their local officials about the foul water coming from their taps. But their pleas kept getting ignored, and they were constantly being assured that there was nothing wrong with the water, the water was safe, and that they should just ignore the obvious problems with the water they were seeing with their own eyes.
At this time, Flint was under Emergency Management1, which it had been under since 2011. And it were these emergency managers who had made the fateful decision, in 2014, to switch Flint’s water source from the Detroit water system to the Flint water system. Now the Flint water system had not been operational for many years, and was in no way ready to take on this huge responsibility as the Flint water was not, and had not been, treated. And the careless and reckless emergency managers knew this but decided to make the switch anyway. And why not? It didn’t personally affect them as none of them lived in Flint so they would be personally safe from the repercussions of such a switch.
Emergency Management is a term used to describe the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with emergency scenarios. – NAACP
The residents were understandably livid at what had been done to their previously clean water, and kept expressing this to the emergency managers, who kept telling the residents that they were delusional, and that their water was clean and safe. And that they should just shut up about it already.
Long story short, the emergency managers finally acknowledged their “mistake” and finally made the switch back to the Detroit River. But by this time poisonous lead-filled water had been being pumped into people’s homes for almost two years. So, the damage had been sufficiently done. And the people sufficiently poisoned, and affected for life.
And to add insult to injury, NO ONE responsible for this diabolical scheme has been held accountable for their actions 10 years later. Oh, there was a “mock” trial that took place to pretend that they were serious about getting justice for the city of Flint and its residents. But eventually, all of the charges were dropped and everyone responsible, including the mayor at the time, was able to skip off into the sunset, and live happily ever after without a care in the world for the harm they rained down on the people of Flint.
And the people of Flint? Well, they have had to live with the consequences of being poisoned with lead tainted water, while never receiving the justice due them because of this man-made crisis. Reports are that cancer in Flint has gone up approximately 300% since the water crisis. Children and the elderly, those who have survived, have had to live with the affects of lead poisoning, and the havoc it wrecks on your body and immune system. The cases of Legionnaires’ disease are also up as a result of the exposure to lead.
And the people are still being violated, 10 years later, by their government officials when they go to them asking for help to right the wrong, and the damage done to them. There are a host of civil rights violations and constitutional rights violations being inflicted on them by their government officials, who show a total disdain and disregard for them and their sufferings. This is all going on today. And, it’s all being streamed live on the Internet for all the world to see. People going down to their city council are being stripped of their 1st Amendment right to free speech when they express their frustrations at their public officials for not representing them as their elected officials, and not doing anything to fix the water problem that they are still suffering with today. Residents are always being kicked out of council chambers by police for simply protesting, which the city officials seem to think the residents don’t have a right to do. And, the people’s 1st Amendment right to freedom of press is also being violated when they try and record the blatant corruption and civil rights violations taking place in their city council chambers. People have been arrested by the police, at the behest of city council members, for simply setting up a tripod to record the meetings. This is all unconscionable, and unconstitutional.
Flint received $94.7 million in ARPA2 funding, which was intended to be used by local governments to aid their community’s growth and recovery from the devastating affects of COVID-19. But sadly, none of that money has reached the residents in Flint because the current corrupt government in Flint has decided to use this money for payoffs, bribes, political favors, and to stuff into their own pockets.
When will the people of Flint receive the justice they deserve? Will the federal government continue to turn a blind eye to the human rights, and the civil rights, violations taking place in Flint? I would hope that your answer to this is NO.
What can you do to help?
At this point, the federal government needs to step in IMMEDIATELY. A national disaster needs to be declared in Flint, Michigan, and every possible resource needs to be thrown into fixing the ongoing water problem, and addressing the irreparable damage done to the people.
- There needs to be a complete removal and replacement of all the pipes outside, and inside, the home. To date, not all of the lead service lines leading into the homes have been replaced. The city keeps saying that this is 90% complete. But it’s been at 90% completion since 2019, when the last Mayor left office. The current Mayor was sworn into office in 2019. And since he’s been in office, he has done absolutely nothing to continue the replacement of the remaining lead service lines. He has been on a mission to cover up the ongoing water crisis in Flint, and sweep it under the rug. This is unacceptable.
In addition to the lead service lines, all of the pipes under the street, and the plumbing in the homes need to be removed and replaced. None of this has been done to date. So, it doesn’t really matter if the water flowing through the pipes is clean. If all of the affected pipes have not been replaced, you are only tainting the “clean” water because it’s being filtered through rusted out and corroded pipes. This needs to be done immediately. Until this is done, the water isn’t fixed. There is still a major health crisis. - There needs to be independent testing of the lead levels in the water to determine if the water going into people’s homes is really safe. There is suspicion that the local government is manipulating these numbers to make people think that the water is safe when it’s really not, because they have a vested interest in burying this problem for good, hoping it will go away, and not actually fixing the problem at all.
- There needs to be a zeroing out of past due water bills, and a moratorium on the city’s current plans to raise the water rates for the residents to generate more revenue to make up for the mismanagement of city funds, in my opinion. And their plan to place liens on the homes of those with past due water bills (as a way to steal the homes of the residents, and push them deeper into poverty).
- There needs to be free universal healthcare for all residents of Flint so that they can finally get the adequate care they need to address the many physical and mental issues they suffer from as a result of this disaster.
- And, there needs to be a complete and thorough investigation into the cover-up as to who was responsible for this man-made disaster; and those responsible need to be held accountable for their actions. Because no one is above the law. If you break the law, you should be held accountable under the law.
This is only a start, but it’s a very important start to dealing with the humanitarian crisis taking place in Flint. I assume that these initial steps will possibly lead to more areas that need to be addressed to fix this ongoing crisis of humanity.
I think that it is important for Flint to receive justice so that they know that their government cares about them, and is invested in their health, safety, and well-being. And invested in everyone having clean and safe drinking water, which everyone deserves.
I think it is also important to send a message to anyone else thinking about causing such a crisis in another city/state in the United States, to learn from the many mistakes made in Flint. They need to know that this is never acceptable anywhere in the U.S. And that even though justice may move slow, it will move. And when it moves, it moves with the full weight and might of the United States of America on all those responsible for creating such a crisis.
Is Flint dispensable, or are their lives worth saving? Do we really want to send the message in the United States of America, in the 21st century, that there are some people whose lives don’t really matter to us so we are willing to let them die a slow and painful death just as long as those responsible can benefit monetarily from their suffering? Or, do we want to send the message to the U.S., and around the world, that all citizens of the United States matter, and their government is 100% committed to making sure that all citizens have access to clean and safe water, no matter the cost?
I hope to hear back from you soon, President Biden. And I hope to hear that you will deploy the necessary resources to look into this matter further. And that when you do, and discover that this crisis of humanity is still ongoing, that you will deploy every available resource, immediately, to remedy this crisis. Because the people of Flint have waited 10 years, and they can’t wait any longer.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Jeanita Jinnah, Concerned Citizen Seeking Justice for Flint
Footnotes: 1Core Principles of Equity and Emergency Management, NAACP. 2American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), U.S. Department Of The Treasury.
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