Every morning, Alecia McCarty wakes up wondering if she will have water at home, and if she will be able to drink it.
At the beginning of last week, his faucet produced brown water, before sputtering and completely drying up. Last Saturday, she had clear water once more, but with a ban on drinking it, by order of the town hall.
With her children, ages 10 and 11, Alecia had to brush their teeth with bottled water and refill their supplies from two distribution points set up in nearby churches. Every day they fill four buckets of water with the garden hose to run their toilets.
In the suburbs, “they don’t have these problems”
Alecia, 35, works as a personal aide for an elderly lady living in nearby Madison, which, like most other towns surrounding Jackson, has not been affected by these supply problems due to a more modern distribution system.
“They don’t have a water problem. [là-bas]. They don’t have any of those issues.”
Since the end of July, Jackson has been subject to a city ordinance recommending that running water be boiled. Chronic outages in the distribution system have been exacerbated by recent flooding and malfunctioning pumps at the city’s main water treatment plant. As a result, many of the 150,000 residents of the Mississippi capital have been without drinking water since last week. It is still unclear when the system will be operational once more, how much it will cost and who will pay.
decades of racism
This contrast between Jackson and surrounding townships is the result of decades of racism, say historians and infrastructure experts. And these differences are the consequences of two distinct migratory episodes in the history of the city.
In the early 1970s, Jackson’s white populations began to move to the outskirts [un phénomène national connu sous le nom de White flight, “fuite des Blancs”]. Then, the decline of the city caused the departure of the better-off black inhabitants, who fled failing infrastructure – not only the water distribution system, but also the roads or the schools. This new wave of departures has further reduced the municipality’s tax revenue, further restricting its ability to maintain its i
The rest is reserved for subscribers…
- Access all subscribed content
- Support independent writing
- Receive the Mail Alarm Clock every morning
Source of the article
The Washington Post (Washington)
The major daily newspaper in the American capital and one of the most influential titles in the world press. Traditionally center right, The Washington Post owes its reputation to its legendary investigative work in the Watergate affair, which led to the fall of President Nixon in the early 1970s. It is also distinguished by its very detailed coverage of American political life, its analyses, its reports , as well as by its many columnists from all political persuasions.
First daily to appear seven days a week (in 1880) and to appoint a mediator to watch over the independence of the newspaper (from 1970), The WP often knew how to evolve before the others. It was from the 1930s that it really took off, following its acquisition by Eugene Meyer, before experiencing its heyday under the leadership of his daughter, Katharine Graham.
In 2013, the newspaper controlled for eighty years by the Meyer-Graham family was bought by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. Since Post focused on new technologies. Developers and data scientists coexist in its new offices with journalists; headlines are often more eye-catching and web-friendly. Jeff Bezos has invested significant sums which have enabled the hiring of 140 journalists, following years of layoffs. But revenues remain insufficient and the future still raises concerns.
The website of Washington Post is very complete and attracts many Internet users from abroad. In recent years, it has experimented with very ambitious formats, particularly in terms of immersive journalism.
Read more
Nos services
