Flint Crisis A Byproduct of Poverty

"If there was even a whiff of lead in Grosse Pointe, better believe they'd be pumping in Perrier by the end of the day." ~Ron Fournier on NPR 


I caught a piece on NPR about the Flint issue, where the guest speaker mentioned how strongly poverty impacts the problem, stating plainly that this would not have happened if poverty weren't a factor.  It sounds obvious but when you sit and really think about it, its quite disgusting how the whole thing unfolded.  (See timeline of events here)

LeeAnne Walters: One of the first Flint residents to speak out 

As social workers, we are all too aware of the role being poor plays in a person's quality of life. Everything is impacted from birth to death and every moment in between.  Poor people are less healthy, less happy and they die younger from preventable causes.  This wouldn't have been an issue in the suburbs of Anytown, USA as its residents would have marched down to City Hall as soon as they noticed even the slightest twinge of a problem and the government would have responded posthaste providing remedies and follow up to make sure that everything was peachy-keen.

This could only happen in a place like Flint, where 40% of its residents live in poverty.  Poverty leads to lack of options, lack of options creates dependence and dependence can lead to a fear of standing up for oneself and a realization that nothing will change even if you do.

In some cases, there is that one resident who cries out and rallies the community behind their shared cause; but in many communities no one stands up because they are so used to being beaten down they feel there is no point.  When poor people speak out they are told to "stop complaining;" they are berated for having the audacity to expect that they deserve the same treatment as others.  Many of the children of Flint were continuously affected since birth, when their mothers made their bottles with lead-laced drinking water.  When they started to notice their water was turning brown, they were lied to, rather blatantly for over a year while politicians slept soundly at night, their children safe from the poison being funneled into homes a few towns over.

One of our basic tenets as social workers is to challenge social injustice "on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people."  We must advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves.  We must mobilize citizens and let them know how powerful their voices can be when everyone is on the same page.