The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, would likely not have occurred “if the affected population group was well-off or overwhelmingly white,” according to Philip Alston, an expert speaking on behalf of the United Nations.
“[Had] elected officials been much more careful, there would have been a timely response to complaints rather than summary dismissals of concerns, and official accountability would have been insisted upon much sooner,” Alston, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, stated.
Flint, according to the U.S. Census’ QuickFacts, is 56.6 percent Black, 35.7 percent white, 3.9 percent Hispanic, 3.9 percent two or more races, and less than one percent American Indian as well as Asian. 41.6 percent of the city’s population lives below the poverty line. Because of these demographics, the crisis has been described by some as “environmental racism.”
