A combination of poor infrastructure, climate change and racism have long contributed to water issues in Jackson, Miss, and now heavy rainfalls have left close to 150,000 residents without access to safe drinking water.
As recent as July, the city was under a boil-water notice due to high levels of turbidity (cloudiness). This week, flooding from rainfall has caused pump failures for the primary water treatment plant, creating water shortages for two major hospitals and the Jackson Public School District.
Little has been done to restore a deteriorating water system in Jackson, which is 82 percent Black. Extreme weather patterns are now exposing the role racist infrastructure plays in contributing to unequal water systems across the country, in communities that are majority Black.
