http://news.streetroots.org/2018/04/27/detroits-canary-mine-portland-says-water-equality-activist
It’s crazy how denying one’s access to water seems unethical, and is technically illegal in the eyes of the U.N., yet many of Detroiters and Flint residents are going days and weeks without it. Sadly, this is something that I don’t find quite surprising. Water is a necessity, and it is despicable that in “Great Lakes” state that people find themselves going without freshwater. And then just when you think it can’t get any worse than that, you realize that the people suffering from lack of water are being systematically targeted. For example, the article states that the majority of Detroit’s water shut offs happen in predominantly Black neighborhoods, suggesting that this is in hopes of sending native Detroiters out of the city and making room for gentrifiers. This topic really makes me upset because water should never be so expensive, and it also shouldn’t be dangled over someone’s head to make them think that they cannot afford to stay at their homes. Besides, while Detroit becomes gentrified and increasingly more expensive to stay in, where are the native Detroiters supposed to go stay? They are paying the price for sticking in the city they love and being forced out which is completely unfair. I am hopeful that the We the People of Detroit group can somehow replicate the system taking place in Portland so that water, among many things related to living, are prices equitably depending on the household’s income and number of people living in them.
