Obama's Visit to Poisoned Flint Spotlights Economic Inequality
President Barack Obama’s visit Wednesday to poisoned Flint, Michigan, provides both a balm for residents still fearful of their water supply and an illustration of enduring U.S. economic inequality that has plagued his presidency.
The president will receive a briefing on the city’s lead crisis at a local food bank, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday. He’ll then speak to about 1,000 people at Northwestern High School, where about 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency in Flint four months ago over widespread lead contamination in the city’s water supply. Many residents have blamed decisions by Snyder’s administration for the crisis; Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on April 20 charged two state officials and one city official with felonies related to the contamination. Snyder, a Republican, has apologized and is drinking water from the city as a show of support for residents.
“It’s the most vivid, painful, tragic example that one can imagine of the two Americas,” said Steven McMahon, a Democratic strategist.
Long before its lead crisis, Flint was an infamous example of the corners of America hurt worst by globalization and the erosion of U.S. manufacturing. Filmmaker Michael Moore, a Flint native, documented the city’s economic decline in the 1989 film "Roger and Me." About 42 percent of Flint residents lived in poverty in 2014, compared with 16 percent in Michigan overall, according to the U.S. Census, and the median home value was about $37,000, compared with $120,000 for the state.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-04/obama-s-visit-to-poisoned-flint-spotlights-economic-inequality
