Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder had to find a way to pay for a corporate tax cut, so he cast his eyes on the poor and middle-class people of Flint, the majority of whom are black.
Economic inequality has escalated to the point where it now may be directly linked to poor health and early deaths of some of the 102,000 citizens of Flint, Mich. They've been made to drink lead-tainted water in a cost-cutting move.
The top 20 percent of our nation's population, who control about 85 percent of its wealth, seemingly believe they know what is best for the country and do all they can to maintain social control. Meanwhile, the bottom 40 percent of the population control just 0.3 percent of the wealth. This nation is spiraling into two groups -- the haves and the have nots -- often regardless of work ethic, education level or business acumen.
Flint provides evidence of how those who make up that bottom 40 percent too often allow the 20 percent make them feel bad about spending public money.
We can't fix public education because "it will cost too much." Hungry senior citizens and children need housing and food assistance? Nope, "There's not enough money." The new mantra is "Who will pay for it?"
The truth is, if our federal tax code were written fairly, all would pay their fair share without the middle class and poor bearing the greatest burden. Instead of "not enough money," the cry should be to fix the tax code now. But we have allowed that wealthiest 20 percent to determine our fate, and it is now costing us lives.
Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was elected by promising to cut costs. In this case, he meant that the 20 percent would gain, while the 40 percent would get their brains knocked out.
Snyder enriched the wealthy and corporations by handing them a $1.8 billion tax break. Then he had to find a way to pay for it without raising taxes, so he cast his eyes on the poor and middle-class people of Flint, the majority of whom are black. The governor initiated a state takeover of the city, putting in charge one of his cronies who found one way to pay for those tax cuts: Make Flint disconnect from Lake Huron in Detroit as the city water source, and connect to the closer Flint River instead -- saving $15 million.
The problem was that General Motors' Buick division had used the Flint River as its industrial waste commode for decades. The Buick plant and seven other area GM plants dumped 28 million gallons of contaminated waste water into the river on a daily basis.
After the drinking water source switch, residents were assured that the water was safe to drink, bathe in, wash clothes, brush their teeth and cook with. They did so for two years, with complaints about putrid water falling on deaf ears. The water ruined appliances and sickened entire families, while its corrosive properties allowed lead to leach into it from old pipes.
But the government held fast, stating it could not afford to go back to the Lake Huron water, telling the town that it needed to save money, and asking "Who will pay for it?" if the Flint River water were shut off.
By the way, when GM complained to Snyder that the Flint River water was corroding its expensive equipment and auto parts, he found a half a million dollars to hook the company back into Lake Huron, for some very obvious reasons.
It has since been revealed that the citizens of Flint have suffered from lead exposure. Lead poisoning has an irreversible, neurological effect on children. What the permanent impact is on the adult citizens is unknown. But I will be shocked if anyone is held responsible for poisoning this entire city.
Learn from this tragedy and get off the "We can't afford it;" "Who is going to pay for it?" bandwagon. We CAN afford it, and we have to afford what is best for people. Lives depend on it.
I see plenty of "cuts" and "correct sizing" at the local levels. I rarely see the same in the upper echelons of government. I see corporations getting all kinds of tax breaks, but I have not seen the promised, livable-wage jobs the breaks are supposed to generate.
There is no shortage of public funds, but just look closely at how they are allocated. In Gloucester County, there are also public health and safety issues when corporations go all out to save money. A train derailment was caused by a poorly maintained railroad bridge. A chemical company has been accused of polluting the drinking water used by several municipalities.
There is a reason a certain segment of the population is constantly and consistently undervalued and exposed to environmental hazards.
Milton W. Hinton Jr. is director of equal opportunity for the Gloucester County government. He is past president of the Gloucester County Branch NAACP. His column states his personal views, not those of any organization or agency. Email: mwhjr678@gmail.com.