A nation that can’t even provide safe drinking water for its people can’t fly the banner of “exceptionalism” for too long. Thanks to a dangerous mixture of systemic racism, tax cuts and bootstraps politics, Jackson, Mississippi, is in the midst of a water crisis. Again.
That’s right, this isn’t the first—or even second—time that a capital city in the United States has gone without clean drinking water. Residents of Jackson have faced multiple “boil-water” notices over the years thanks to a crumbling water treatment infrastructure.
Trump acolyte Mississippi governor Tate Reeves and city officials are now touting the fact that water pressure has been restored across the city. Unfortunately, even though the water now has great pressure, it still has to be boiled before it is safe to drink. Maybe Reeves and other politicians in Mississippi should be more focused on repairing crumbling infrastructure than on making “an investment in Mississippians” through tax cuts.